WACO, Texas — The men's tennis team's historic season came to a close Saturday with a 4-0 loss to Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Divison I Men's Tennis Championships at Mark Hurd Tennis Center. Cornell, which earned a share of the its second Ivy League title and secured its first-ever at-large bid to the national championship, finishes the season with a 22-4 record.
 
The final score of Saturday belied how close the match was. Seventh-ranked Baylor (22-7) captured the opening doubles point, though the Big Red's pairing of seniors Colin Sinclair and Chris Vrabel was ahead at the No. 1 spot, 6-5. That left 26th-ranked Cornell needing four singles victories to advance, and Baylor brandishes three of the nation's top 63 players in singles.
 
But the Big Red won the first set in two of those top three singles matches behind freshman Lev Kazakov at No. 2, 6-2, and Sinclair at No. 3, 6-4. Senior Bernardo Casares Rosa's first set at the No. 6 match was tied at 4 and Vrabel was up 6-5 at No. 4 to give the Big Red hope, but a late break at No. 6 and a tiebreaker loss at No. 4 put Cornell behind the 8-ball.
 
Sinclair was ahead in the second set at No. 3 and Kazakov's match at No. 2 went to a third set, but Baylor continued its success down the order to clinch the match and improve to 26-0 all-time when hosting first- and second-round matches in the NCAA tournament.

"Those guys are good tennis players. They are tough up and down," Baylor head coach Matt Knoll said. "Those guys proposed some problems for us, which was great."
 
Cornell's final win total of 22 ranks second-highest in program history, though its winning percentage this year was actually higher (.846) than its 26-5 season in 2011 (.839). This was the program's first-ever trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament after Friday's first-round victory over Rice.
 
More to come …
 
#7 BAYLOR 4, #26 CORNELL 0
NCAA Baylor Regional, semifinal
at Mark Hurd Tennis Center; Waco, Texas
Singles
1. #15 Juan Benitez (B) def. David Volfson, 6-1, 6-2
2. #122 Lev Kazakov (C) vs. #50 Max Tchoutakian, DNF (6-2, 3-6, 0-1)
3. Colin Sinclair (C) vs. #63 Johannes Schretter, DNF (6-4, 3-2)
4. Chris Vrabel (C) vs. Bjoern Petersen, DNF (6-7, 2-2)
5. Will Little (B) def. Pietro Rimondini, 6-3, 6-3
6. Jimmy Bendeck (B) def. Bernardo Casares Rosa, 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
1. Sinclair/Vrabel (C) vs. #22 Benitez/Little, DNF (6-5)
2. #84 Bendeck/Schretter (B) def. Kazakov/Volfson, 6-1
3. Petersen/Tchoutakian (B) def. Casares/Juan Jose Rosas, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3), Singles (1,6,5)