TAMPA, Fla. -- Seniors
Alafia Ayeni and
Pietro Rimondini both picked up singles wins, but No. 54 South Florida picked off 50th-ranked Cornell men's tennis on Sunday afternoon at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts. Cornell slipped to 11-5, while the Bulls improved to 9-9.
Ayeni dropped the first set before recovering to claim a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 decision at No. 1 singles for the Big Red and to narrow the team score to 3-1 after the Bulls picked up the doubles point and a pair of singles wins. Rimnondini also rallied from a set down for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles to momentarily get the Big Red back to 3-2, but USF closed out its victory at No. 2 with an even match at No. 6 that went unfinished. Ayeni also teamed with
Vladislav Melnic for the lone doubles win, a 6-3 triumph over Rithvik Bollipalli and Bruno Oliveira. The Bulls held off the Big Red with 6-3 and 6-4 victories, with the No. 3 win for the home team the clincher.
The Big Red opens Ivy League season when it welcomes Dartmouth (Saturday, April 9 at 1 p.m.) and Harvard (Sunday, April 10 at 1 p.m.) to the Reis Tennis Center.
Doubles
1.
Alafia Ayeni/
Vladislav Melnic (Cor) def. Rithvik Bollipalli/Bruno Oliveira (USF) 6-3
2. Chase Ferguson/Ivan Yatsuk (USF) def.
Nathan Mao/
Adit Sinha (Cor) 6-3
3. Sergio Gomez Montesa/Alvin Tudorica (USF) def.
Radu Papoe/
Muhammad Dossani (Cor) 6-4
Singles
1.
Alafia Ayeni (Cor) def. Ivan Yatsuk (USFM) 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
2. Chase Ferguson (USFM) def.
Vladislav Melnic (Cor) 1-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2
3. Antonio Muniz (USFM) def.
Radu Papoe (Cor) 6-4, 6-4
4.
Pietro Rimondini (Cor) def. Sergio Gomez Montesa (USFM) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. Alvin Tudorica (USFM) def.
Samuel Paquette (Cor) 6-0, 6-4
6. Tom Pisane (USFM) vs.
Nathan Mao (Cor) 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 4-4, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,3,1,4,2)