COLUMBUS, Ohio — Alafia Ayeni won in both singles and doubles, but the men's tennis team's dual season started with a 4-3 loss to Arkansas on Saturday afternoon at an ITA 2019 Kick-Off Weekend match hosted by Ohio State.
 
Cornell (0-1) started off by securing the doubles point. Lev Kazakov and Joseph McAllister teamed up to win at No. 3 before Ayeni and Eero Vasa clinched the opening point with a 6-4 win at No. 1.
 
All of the singles matches were then decided in straight sets. Ayeni doubled the Big Red's lead with a 6-3, 6-2 victory from the No. 1 position, but Arkansas (5-1) closed out the next matches from the middle of the order to even the score at 2. Pietro Rimondini wrapped up his match at No. 5 for Cornell's third point only to see the Razorbacks prevail in the last two matches. It was the first-ever meeting between the programs.
 
There are 15 four-team regionals for the ITA 2019 Kick-Off Weekend being contested this weekend across the country, with each winner earning an automatic berth in next month's ITA Division National Team Indoor Championships. Cornell will now take on VCU, the regional's fourth seed, in a consolation match at 9 a.m. Sunday in Columbus.
 
VCU (3-1) is currently unranked after ending last season 69th. The Rams were 16-10 overall and earned an NCAA tournament bid thanks to its second straight Atlantic 10 Conference Championship. VCU has a 4-2 all-time record against Cornell, though the Big Red won the most recent meeting, 4-3, on March 8, 2014.
 
ARKANSAS 4, CORNELL 3
Saturday's results
at OSU Varsity Tennis Center; Columbus, Ohio
Singles
1. Alafia Ayeni (C) def. Josh Howard-Tripp, 6-3, 6-2
2. Oscar Mesquida (A) def. Lev Kazakov, 6-4, 7-5
3. Alex Reco (A) def. Daniel Soyfer, 6-0, 7-5
4. Enrique Paya (A) def. Evan Bynoe, 6-2, 7-5
5. Pietro Rimondini (C) def. Maxim Verboven, 7-6(5), 6-4
6. Jose Alonso (A) def. Konstantin Kirovski, 6-1, 7-6(7)
Doubles
1. Ayeni/Eero Vasa (C) def. Mesquida/Adam Sanjurjo, 6-4
2. Paya/Verboven (A) def. Kirovski/Soyfer, 6-3
3. Kazakov/Joseph McAllister (C) def. Howard-Tripp/Reco, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1), Singles (1,3,4,5,2,6)
Records: Arkansas 5-1, Cornell 0-1