ITHACA, N.Y. — Armed with its highest national ranking in program history, the No. 18 men's tennis team will begin a challenging stretch of four road matches this weekend when it takes on 37th-ranked Indiana at 3 p.m. CST Friday and 35th-ranked Memphis at 11 a.m. CST Sunday.  
 
Cornell moved up six spots to 18th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, which is now the highest standing in the Ivy League program. It's a new mark for the program, which had previously achieved a highest all-time ranking of 23rd. The Big Red is now 11-1 on the season after three matches last weekend at Reis Tennis Center against Colgate and a pair of Top-50 teams, Clemson and Wisconsin. Senior Colin Sinclair clinched the 4-3 victory over the Tigers on Friday with a win at No. 4 singles, then he won again in three sets on Sunday against the Badgers to improve to a perfect 10-0 in singles play. Senior Chris Vrabel is ranked 115th in the nation in singles.
 
Indiana (8-4) snapped a four-match losing streak by upsetting then-No. 32 Washington, 4-3, on Sunday. The win bumped the Hoosiers up eight spots in the national rankings. Indiana won the doubles point for the first time in a five-match span, and it turned out to be the difference after the teams split singles play. Sophomore Antonio Cembellin clinched the match with a three-set victory at No. 2 singles. He carries a national ranking of 125th in the country and is 7-2 in dual singles, though primarily from the No. 3 position. Bennett Crane has a team-best 8-2 record in singles, typically from the lower two spots in the order. The doubles team of Keivon Tabrizi and Raheel Manji are currently ranked 50th, posting a 5-3 record from the No. 1 spot.
 
Memphis (7-2) enters Friday's match with Jackson State on a five-match winning streak, including 4-3 victories last weekend at Dartmouth and Harvard. Sophomore Chris Patzanovsky won the clinching match at No. 3 singles against Dartmouth, then he won two days later against Harvard to improve to 7-0 in singles play this year. Junior Andrew Watson is also 7-0 in singles and currently ranked 82nd in the nation, though he typically competes from the No. 2 position behind junior Ryan Peniston, who is ranked 122nd. Fourteen of the Tigers' 17 doubles victories have come from the Nos. 2 and 3 positions.
 
Cornell and Indiana have split their only two previous meetings, with the Hoosiers eking out a 4-3 victory on Jan. 23, 2015 at Dartmouth, then the Big Red responding with 4-3 win March 3, 2016 at Reis Tennis Center. The only two all-time meetings between Cornell and Memphis have also been decided by a score of 4-3, though the Tigers prevailed in both — March 10, 2013 in Ithaca and March 14, 2003 in Blacksburg, Va.