PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The men's tennis team continued to roll on Sunday, extending its winning streak to three matches after a 4-1 victory over Brown to essentially keep alive its hopes for an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament.
While Cornell (10-10, 3-3 Ivy League) has been eliminated from its bid to claim at least a share of the Ancient Eight title for a second straight year, the Big Red still has the potential to make the NCAA field with a victory over Columbia in its regular-season finale at 1 p.m. Saturday at Reis Tennis Center. But to keep that possibility alive, it needed to stave off host Brown (15-10, 1-5) on Sunday.
The team of senior
Daniel Grunberger and junior
Jake Hansen won at No. 3 doubles to counter the Bears' victory at No. 1, putting the balance of the doubles point on sophomore
Joseph McAllister and junior
David Volfson at No. 2. The Big Red duo broke serve to take a 6-5 lead, then served out for a 7-5 victory and an early 1-0 lead for the visitors to Brown's Varsity Tennis Courts.
Junior
Jake Hansen was victorious for a eighth time in his last nine singles matches ti reach completion in a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 5. The Bears then got their lone point with a win at No. 4 to cut their deficit to 2-1.
After winning his first set at No. 2, freshman
Alafia Ayeni fought off two set points to force a tiebreaker in the second set. He would prevail to push Cornell's lead to 3-1, then sophomore
Lev Kazakov finished his rally for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 3 to clinch.
The win was Cornell's eighth straight against Brown.
#47 CORNELL 4, BROWN 1
At Varsity Tennis Courts; Providence, R.I.
Singles
1.
David Volfson (C) vs. Peter Tarwid, DNF
2.
Alafia Ayeni (C) def. Jack Haworth, 6-3, 7-6(5)
3.
Lev Kazakov (C) def. Walker, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1
4. Charles Tan (B) def.
Daniel Grunberger, 6-3, 6-3
5.
Jake Hansen (C) def. Kelvin Lam, 6-1, 6-1
6.
Joseph McAllister (C) vs. Aaron Sandberg, DNF
Doubles
1. Arocho/Haworth (B) def. Ayeni/Kazakov, 6-2
2. McAllister/Volfson (C) def. Tarwid/Walker, 7-5
3. Grunberger/Hansen (C) def. Sandberg/Tan, 6-3
