ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell men's tennis team swept a Sunday doubleheader at Reis Tennis Center to wrap up the home portion of its non-league schedule, defeating Western Michigan, 5-1, before topping Bucknell, 4-0.
 
Cornell (11-3), which entered the weekend 61st in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings, started the day with a victory over another ranked opponent – #66 Western Michigan (8-7). The doubles point was hotly contested, with the Big Red eventually taking a 1-0 lead after the freshman duo of Nathan Mao and Adit Sinha prevailed in a tiebreaker at the #2 position.
 
Freshman Jack McCarthy was a late addition to the singles lineup, but he won in straight sets from the #6 spot. Freshman Radu Papoe won in dominating fashion at #2, giving the Big Red a 3-1 victory with the remaining singles matches going to third sets. While senior Alafia Ayeni never got more than one game deep in that deciding set at #1, both seniors Pietro Rimondini (#3) and Evan Bynoe (#4) closed out their respective matches with 6-1 advantages in the third.
 
Cornell then went on to roll against Bucknell (4-13), winning a pair of doubles matches at 6-2 before three straight-set wins in singles.
 
Up next for the Big Red is a trip to Tampa next weekend to take on host South Florida on Saturday before wrapping up non-league play with a neutral-site match against VCU.
 
#61 CORNELL 5, #66 WESTERN MICHIGAN 1
At Reis Tennis Center; Ithaca, N.Y.
Singles
1. #33 Alafia Ayeni (C) vs. Peter Kuszynski, DNF (6-7, 6-4, 0-1)
2. Radu Papoe (C) def. Anton Arzhankin, 6-0, 6-2
3. Pietro Rimondini (C) def. Fynn Lohse, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1
4. Evan Bynoe (C) def. Brogan Pierce, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
5. Arjun Honnappa (WMU) def. Adit Sinha, 6-3, 7-6
6. Jack McCarthy (C) def. Joaquin Caballer, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
1. Ayeni/Rimondini (C) vs. #68 Honnappa/Lohse, DNF (5-6)
2. Nathan Mao/Sinha (C) def. Caballer/Kuszynski, 7-6
3. McCarthy/Papoe (C) def. Arzhankin/Pierce, 6-4
 
#61 CORNELL 4, BUCKNELL 0
At Reis Tennis Center; Ithaca, N.Y.
Singles
1. Radu Papoe (C) def. Harrison Gold, 6-3, 6-3
2. Adit Sinha (C) vs. Nick Mueller, DNF (6-2, 3-4)
3. Jack McCarthy (C) def. Michael Owen, 6-1, 6-0
4. Sam Paquette (C) vs. Tim Zelikovsky, DNF (5-6)
5. Nathan Mao (C) vs. Nicolas Grunig, DNF (6-2, 4-3)
6. Muhammad Dossani (C) def. Charlie Nordahl, 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1. Mao/Sinha (C) def. Gold/Zelikovsky, 6-2
2. McCarthy/Papoe (C) vs. Mueller/Owen, DNF (4-2)
3. Dossani/Paquette (C) def. Grunig/Nordahl, 6-2