ITHACA, N.Y. — The men's tennis team continues its heavy early-season travel schedule this weekend with a demanding trip to The Sooner State for matches against Oklahoma at 2 p.m. Central on Saturday and Tulsa at 10:30 a.m. Central on Sunday. Both matches will be streamed with live stats also available through the host schools' websites.
 
It's already the third trip of the young dual season for Cornell (2-2), which has earned splits in each of its first two weekends this spring. Most recently, the Big Red responded from a 4-1 loss last Saturday at 16th-ranked Michigan with a 4-0 decision against Michigan State the following afternoon.
 
Junior Daniel Soyfer had a particularly strong weekend against his former Big 10 Conference foes. The transfer from Wisconsin won both of his singles matches and split his No. 2 doubles appearances alongside senior Jake Hansen. Soyfer leads the Big Red with a 3-1 singles record, while sophomores Alafia Ayeni and Eero Vasa are 2-1 at No. 1 doubles.
 
Oklahoma (5-2) remains 18th in the Oracle/ITA rankings this week despite suffering a 4-2 loss last Saturday at Michigan. Spencer Papa is 4-1 at No. 1 singles and ranked 47th in the country. He also pairs with Jake Van Emburgh at No. 1 doubles, with the tandem sporting a 5-1 record and up to 33rd in the national rankings.
 
The Big Red and the Sooners have split its match-ups over the last two seasons, with Cornell's victory in 2017 serving as one of the program's most memorable. A 4-3 victory over the seventh-ranked Sooners marked the highest-ranked team the Big Red has ever defeated in program history, and it was a major contributor in securing a No. 2 seed as an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. Junior Lev Kazakov clinched the match with a three-set victory at No. 2 singles. Oklahoma countered with a 4-2 victory over Cornell last year in Ithaca, with the Big Red's points coming via singles victories from senior David Volfson (No. 2) and junior Pietro Rimondini (No. 5).
 
Tulsa (8-2) is receiving votes in the national poll for a second straight week after being ranked as high as 25th on Jan. 23. The Golden Hurricane was topped by Arkansas, 5-2, in its last match on Sunday afternoon, and it will start this weekend's play by hosting sixth-ranked Texas on Friday evening. Majed Kilani is ranked 73rd in the country in singles, where he's 4-2 from the top two positions. Kody Pearson is 9-1 in dual singles, and he's team with Daniel Siddall to post a perfect 8-0 record so far from the bottom two positions in doubles. Sunday's match marks the first-ever meeting between Cornell and Tulsa.