ITHACA, N.Y. — The men's squash team will make its home debut on Saturday, when it hosts a pair of matches at Belkin International Squash Courts. The Big Red opens Ivy League play at 10 a.m. against Columbia before concluding the day with a 6 p.m. tilt against Virginia.
 
Cornell (2-1) opened the season with three matches at the Williams Round Robin. After 7-2 victories over the host Ephs and Dickinson, the 12th-ranked Big Red dropped a 6-3 affair against 13th-ranked Western Ontario. Freshman Illia Presman (No. 5) and junior Ben Francis (No. 6) won all three of their respective matches for Cornell.
 
Columbia (3-0) is ranked fourth in the country after an identical finish in the Potter Cup last year. The Lions opened this season with a pair of sweeps over NYU and Franklin & Marshall bookending a 7-2 decision against seventh-ranked Drexel. The all-time series between Cornell and Columbia is tied, 3-3, since the Lions resurrected their program for the 2011-12 season. The Lions won last year's meeting, 8-1.
 
Virginia is in its inaugural season at the varsity level, having seen steady progression as a club program all the way up the 18th in the final national rankings in 2017. The Cavaliers are now tabbed 17th with a 3-2 record, though they will also take on George Washington on Tuesday night and Columbia at 2 p.m. Saturday before their match with the Big Red. This will be the first-ever meeting between Cornell and Virginia.