ITHACA, N.Y. — Sophomore
Joseph McAllister rallied to win in three sets at No. 6 singles, capping the men's tennis team's 4-3 victory on Sunday over 29th-ranked Harvard at Reis Tennis Center.
Cornell (8-10, 1-3 Ivy League) ended a four-match losing streak with the win, staving off a rally from Harvard (19-5, 3-2) after the Big Red stormed out to a big lead. The day started with the Big Red taking the doubles point. Senior
Daniel Grunberger and Hansen teamed up to win at No. 3, then sophomore
Lev Kazakov and freshman
Alafia Ayeni prevailed in a tiebreaker at No. 1 to give Cornell an early 1-0 lead.
The Big Red lead ballooned to three after singles victories from Kazakov (No. 3) and Hansen (No. 5). It extended Hansen's winning streak to seven in a row in singles from the bottom two positions.
But Harvard – looking to rebound from a loss the day prior to Columbia in a battle of Ivy unbeatens entering the weekend – clawed its way back even. The Crimson won a pair of tiebreakers at No. 4 to get on the board, then it tied the score after taking three-set matches from the top two positions.
McAllister won going away, winning a match point on a break to improve to 3-0 in Ivy League matches this season after competing just twice in singles during the non-league schedule. Cornell is now 15-63 in the all-time series against Harvard, but its won seven of the last 13 meetings.
The Big Red hits the road for the last time with matches at 1 p.m. Saturday at Yale and 1 p.m. Sunday at Brown.
CORNELL 4, #29 HARVARD 3
At Reis Tennis Center; Ithaca, N.Y.
Singles
1. Kenny Tao (H) def.
David Volfson, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
2. Andy Zhou (H) def.
Alafia Ayeni, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
3.
Lev Kazakov (C) def. Jean Thirouin, 6-2, 6-3
4. Robert Wrzesinski (H) def.
Daniel Grunberger, 7-6, 7-6
5.
Jake Hansen (C) def. Grant Solomon, 6-3, 6-4
6.
Joseph McAllister (C) def. Galen Lee, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1. Ayeni/Kazakov (C) def. Tao/Weber, 7-6
2. Christopher Morrow/Solomon (H) def. McAllister/Volfson, 7-6
3. Grunberger/Hansen (C) def. Wrzesinski/Zhou, 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (n/a), Singles (3,5,2,4,1,6)
