ITHACA, N.Y. — The resurgent men's tennis team enters the gantlet of its last three Ivy League matches with a challenging road trip this weekend to fellow contenders Harvard and Dartmouth. The Big Red visits the Crimson at a 1 p.m. Saturday before taking on the Big Green at 1 p.m. Sunday. Both matches will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
Cornell (13-8, 4-0 Ivy League) has won its last five matches to not only climb back into contention for an NCAA tournament bid, but also put itself into a three-way tie atop the league standings alongside Harvard (17-5, 4-0) and Columbia (14-3, 4-0). Dartmouth (14-6, 3-1) is also in the mix, and adding to the intrigue is the fact that the four teams all play each other over the regular season's final nine days.
 
Back in good health across the board, the Big Red has found its rhythm and rattled off a stretch in which it not only has give consecutive wins, its only conceded three points in the process. Entering the Ivy slate, the doubles team of senior David Volfson and junior Daniel Soyfer was reunited for the first time since the fall and has rolled to four straight victories from the No. 1 position. They're now ranked 49th in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, and the No. 2 tandem of sophomore Alafia Ayeni and junior Lev Kazakov has won its last four matches.
 
In singles, Volfson is 6-0 and continues to climb the order after returning from the lengthy absence. He competed at the No. 2 position last weekend and is now tabbed 44th in the nation. Ayeni is 7-5 from the top spot, and Kazakov (12-4) and Soyfer (12-7) typically round out the top four while being tied for the team lead in victories.
 
While Cornell is still outside the ITA's top 50 teams, it sits in 53rd in  the deeper TRN/Slam.Tennis rankings. That position on its own probably isn't high enough to hear Cornell called at the NCAA tournament selection show on April 29, but multiple victories against other Ivy League contenders could change that.
 
Up first is a trip to Harvard to take on a Crimson squadh that has won seven straight and is currently ranked 38th after victories of 6-1 at Yale and 4-0 vs. Brown last weekend.
 
Harvard has secured most of its points from the top two doubles positions and the middle four singles positions. Robert Wrzesinski is 11-5 and now competes at the top spot, with Andy Zhou (9-9) moving down to No. 2. Brian Shi has won six straight at No. 3, Harris Walker (17-4) seven straight at No. 4. Steven Sun is 15-2 from primarily No. 5. Zhou and Logan Weber are 9-9 at No. 1 doubles and ranked 58th nationally, but they have lost five straight.
 
Harvard leads the all-time series, 63-15, though Cornell has won seven of the last 13 meetings. The Big Red won last year's Ivy League meeting in Ithaca, 4-3, with junior Joseph McAllister rallying to win in three sets at No. 6 singles for the clinching point.
 
Dartmouth has won three straight to climb back into Ivy League contention after a 6-1 loss to Princeton on April 6. The Big Green is led by Charlie Broom, who is 8-7 at No. 1 singles and ranked 60th in the country. He also teams with David Horneffer for No. 1 doubles, where the duo is 12-3 and ranked 19th nationally. Sid Chari competes primarily at No. 5 and leads the team in singles victories with a 11-6 record. Dan Martin and John Speicher are 9-2 in doubles, but both of those losses have come in Ivy League play.
 
The Big Green holds a 46-23-2 advantage in the all-time series against Cornell, though the Big Red has won seven of the last 12 meetings. That includes a 4-2 decision over Dartmouth in its last visit to Hanover, New Hampshire in 2017, where Volfson, Kazakov and junior Pietro Rimondini won in singles.