ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's tennis took No. 16 Harvard to the brink, then took its frustrations out on Binghamton in splitting a Sunday afternoon doubleheader of matches at the Reis Tennis Center. The Crimson topped the Big Red 4-2 in a key Ivy match before Cornell toppled Binghamton 4-0. The 58th-ranked Big Red are 14-6 (1-1 Ivy) this season after Sunday's action.

After Harvard won the doubles point, the Big Red won at the top two spots on the ladder with both Alafia Ayeni and Vlad Melnic earning wins over ranked foes in straight sets. Ayeni, ranked No. 54 in the nation, earned a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over No. 29 Henry von der Schulenberg to get things going after the Crimson staked itself to a 2-0 lead. Melnic also picked up a 6-4, 6-4 win over the Crimson's 37th-ranked Brian Shi at No. 2 to get back within 3-2, while Pietro Rimondini led at No. 5 when Harvard clinched the match,  

The Big Red cruised against Binghamton, though the Bearcats made Cornell earn the doubles point after the home team dropped the No. 1 spot. Ayeni continued his success at No. 1, allowing just three games in a 6-2, 6-1 victory. In fact, none of the three completed singles victories for the Big Red saw the host drop more than five games with Evan Bynoe at No 2 and Pietro Rimondini at No. 6 earning wins. Cornell was up a set in each of the remaining three matches that weren't completed.

Cornell will hit the road to continue Ivy play with matchups against Yale on Saturday, April 16 at 1 p.n. and Brown on Sunday, April 17 at 1 p.m.

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#16 Harvard 4, #58 Cornell 2

Doubles
1. #20 Alafia Ayeni/Vladislav Melnic (C) vs, #31 Brian Shi/Daniel Milavsky (H), 6-5 DNF
2. Ronan Jachuck/Harris Walker (H) def. Adit Sinha/Nathan Mao (C), 6-3
3. Henry von der Schulenburg/Steven Sun (H) def. Radu Papoe/Pietro Rimondini (C), 6-4 
Order of Finish: 2, 3

Singles
1. #54 Alafia Ayeni (C) def. #29 Henry von der Schulenburg (H), 6-4, 6-4
2. Vlad Melnic (C) def. #37 Brian Shi (H),  6-4, 6-4
3. #63 Harris Walker (H) def. Radu Papoe (C), 6-2, 7-6 (3)
4. Ronan Jachuck (H) def. Evan Bynoe (C), 6-0, 6-1
5. Pietro Rimondini (C) vs. Daniel Milavsky (H) , 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 DNF
6. Steven Sun (H) def. Nathan Mao (C), 7-6 (3), 6-1
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 6, 2, 3
 

#58 Cornell 4, Binghamton 0

Doubles
1. Shourya Verma/Kyle Weekes (B) def. Radu Papoe/Pietro Rimondini (C), 6-2 
2. Nathan Mao/Evan Bynoe (C) def. Anshumat Srivastava/Courage Crawford (B), 6-3
3. Samuel Paquette/Muhammad Dossani (C) def. Dan Pergel/Joshua Roe Flannelly (B), 7-5

Singles
1. #54 Alafia Ayeni (C) def. Shourya Verma (B), 6-2, 6-1
2. Evan Bynoe (C) def. Dan Pergel (B), 6-2, 6-2
3. Nathan Mao (C) vs. Courage Crawford (B), 6-0, 5-4 DNF
4. Samuel Paquette (C) vs. Joshua Roe Flannelly (B), 6-0, 4-4 DNF
5. Muhammad Dossani (C) vs. Anshumat Srivastava (B), 6-2, 5-3 DNF
6. Pietro Rimondini (C) def. Adi Ben-Ari (B), 6-3, 6-2