STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The men's tennis team has won five straight to start its dual season for the first time since 2004 after a 4-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Penn State.
 
Senior Chris Vrabel, ranked 62nd nationally in singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, clinched the match with a three-set victory at the No. 2 position. He also teamed with classmate Bernardo Casares Rosa to win in No. 1 doubles, pushing the duo's early-season record to 4-0.
 
While the last three matches between the teams went down to the wire and ended with a 4-3 score, Cornell was won a pair of second-set tiebreakers in singles to maintain control Sunday after starting the day with the doubles point. Freshman Lev Kazakov and senior Dylan Brown clinched the opening point with a 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles.
 
Kazakov closed out the No. 1 singles match to push the score to 2-1, then senior Colin Sinclair won at No. 3 singles to put Cornell on the brink of the win. Vrabel was forced into a third set in his match at No. 2 and closed it out, pushing Cornell's record all-time against Penn State to 27-12.
 
The Big Red is 5-0 to start the dual season for the first time since the 2003-04 season, when it won its first eight matches.
 
Cornell returns home for its next match at 11 a.m. Saturday against St. John's at Reis Tennis Center. The match is free to attend and open to the public.

CORNELL 4, PENN STATE 1
Singles
1. Lev Kazakov (C) def. Constant De La Bassetiere, 6-2, 7-6
2. #62 Chris Vrabel (C) def. Christian Lakoseljac, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3
3. Colin Sinclair (C) def. Christos Antonopoulos, 6-4, 7-6
4. Aws Laaribi (PSU) def. Daniel Grunberger, 6-1, 7-5
Doubles
1. Caseres Rosas/Vrabel (C) def. David Kohan/Christian Lutschaunig, 6-3
2. Rohan Sikka/Sinclair (C) vs. De La Bassetiere/Lakoseljac, DNF
3, Dylan Brown/Kazakov (C) def. Matt Galush/Laaribi (PSU), 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2), Singles (1,4,3,2)
Records: Cornell 5-0, Penn State 2-3