ITHACA, N.Y. -- Following a split Ivy weekend and a dominant performance over Binghamton, the #58 Cornell men's tennis team will travel to New England to gain traction in the race for the Ivy League title. Cornell takes on Yale on Saturday and Brown on Sunday, both at 1 p.m,, with Saturday's contest available to stream on ESPN+. 

The Big Red opened its Ivy League schedule with a win on Saturday over Dartmouth. The 20th-ranked duo of Alafia Ayeni and Vlad Melnic triumphed in doubles at the No.1 spot to clinch the point for Cornell after Dartmouth rallied in the No. 3 spot. It was relatively smooth sailing from there, securing the match when freshman Radu Papoe secured the last point for Cornell in singles from the No. 3 spot. 

Sunday was a hard-fought battle against No. 16 Harvard. Both Alafia Ayeni and Vlac Melnic triumphed over ranked opponents in singles; No. 54 Ayeni defeated No. 29 Henry von der Schulenburg and Melnic overcame No. 37 Brian Shi to secure two points for the Big Red. 

After the tough loss to Harvard, Cornell finished the doubleheader on Sunday with an assertive victory over Binghamton. After a brief scare in doubles, duos of Nathan Mao/Evan Bynoe and Samuel Paquette/Muhammad Dossani cruised to wins over their opponents. In singles, the Big Red quickly secured victories in the first, second, and sixth spots, finishing the dual before the other matchups could finish. Cornell was up a set in each of the remaining matches. 

Yale (9-9) is fresh off of two defeats to Ivy League opponents, dropping its league record to 1-2. Saturday is the second time Cornell will meet Yale this season, with their last matchup landing in favor of the Big Red 4-1 during the ECAC Indoor Championships in February. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series against the Big Red 57-20-2. 

Brown (9-11) holds a marginal lead in the series against Cornell, slightly edging the Big Red 34-29. The last meeting between the two schools ended in favor of the Big Red when it beat Brown 4-0 on its way to becoming ECAC Indoor Champions in 2020. The Bears also lost to both of their Ivy League opponents last weekend, dropping them to 0-3 in league play.