HANOVER, N.H. — Sophomore Alafia Ayeni stormed back to win in three sets at No. 1 singles and clinch the men's tennis team's 4-3 victory over Dartmouth on Sunday at Boss Tennis Center. The victory keeps the Big Red's hope alive for a second Ivy League title in the last three years.
 
Dartmouth (14-8, 3-3 Ivy League) started off the day by securing the doubles point, despite a victory from the No. 2 position by Ayeni and junior Lev Kazakov from Cornell (14-9, 5-1). The Big Red quickly countered to start off singles play by cruising to straight-set victories from Kazakov at No. 3 and sophomore Evan Bynoe at No. 6.
 
The Big Green held on to win in a second-set tiebreaker at No. 5 to knot the score at 2 and leave the balance of the match on positions 1, 2 and 4. Junior Daniel Soyfer then gave the Big Red its lead back by rallying to win in three sets, punctuated by an ace on match point.
 
With Dartmouth needing to win the last two matches, both tied early in their respective third sets, Ayeni took control of the No. 1 tilt with a break to make the score 4-3. Playing against the country's 60th-ranked singles competitor and a former Ivy League Rookie of the Year in Charlie Broom, Ayeni clinched with another break for a 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 win.

With Columbia defeating Harvard on Sunday, the Big Red can win a share of the Ivy League title with a victory in its regular-season finale at 1 p.m. Saturday at Columbia.
 

CORNELL 4, DARTMOUTH 3

At Boss Tennis Center; Hanover, N.H.
Singles
1. Alafia Ayeni (C) def. #60 Charlie Broom, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
2. Dan Martin (D) def. #44 David Volfson, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3
3. Lev Kazakov (C) def. David Horneffer, 6-2, 6-3
4. Daniel Soyfer (C) def. Peter Conklin, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. Sid Chari (D) def. Eero Vasa, 6-2, 7-6(4)
6. Evan Bynoe (C) def. John Speicher, 6-1, 6-2
Doubles
1. #19 Broom/Horneffer (D) def. #49 Soyfer/Volfson, 6-2
2. Ayeni/Kazakov (C) def. Conklin/Casey Ross, 6-4
3. Martin/Speicher (D) def. Joseph McAllister/Vasa, 7-5