ITHACA, N.Y. — With its season on the line, the men's tennis team will face rival Columbia at 1 p.m. Saturday at Reis Tennis Center. The clash of nationally-ranked teams will also serve as the Big Red's Senior Day, commemorating the imminent graduation of seniors
Karim Arem,
Andrew Dykeman and
Daniel Grunberger.
On its first three-match winning streak of the season, Cornell (10-10, 3-3 Ivy League) has moved up two spots to 45th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The Big Red toppled No. 29 Harvard , 4-3, to get a little traction on April 15, then it went on the road to sweep Yale and Brown last weekend.
Junior
Jake Hansen has won eight of his last nine singles matches to reach completion to improve to 10-5 for the season, primarily from the No. 5 position. Sophomore
Lev Kazakov is also 10-5 from the No. 3 spot after winning his last three. Freshman
Alafia Ayeni is 10-8 from the top two positions.
One thing at stake on Saturday is the potential for Cornell to secure an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament. The field consists of 64 teams, but automatic berths will go to conference championships that have nationally rankings below 64th, the latest projection by College Tennis Ranks has Cornell as the second team outside the bubble.
A loss against Columbia would slip Cornell's winning percentage to below .500, thus making the Big Red ineligible to qualify for the NCAA tournament. But a win against the nation's 16th-ranked program would probably give it the necessary boost to get in.
Another thing at stake is the Ivy League title – for Columbia (16-4, 5-1). While Dartmouth has already clinched at least a share and the league's automatic NCAA berth, a win by the Lions on Saturday would give them a share of their fifth consecutive Ivy crown.
Columbia also swept the Brown-Yale road swing last weekend, winning both by 4-0 margins. Victor Pham is ranked 23rd nationally in singles, where he won his first eight in dual matches from the No. 1 position – though he remains winless in Ivy League play. Jackie Tang is ranked 53rd and competes primarily at No. 2. Together, they form the Lions' No. 2 and the nation's 29th-ranked doubles tandem. Jack Lin and William Matheson are ranked 44th, but typically compete at Columbia's No. 1 spot.
Columbia has won six straight matches against Cornell to improve to 56-40-1 all-time in the series. The Big Red's last victory against the Lions came in the finals of the ECAC Indoor Championships on Feb. 17, 2013.
