ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's tennis team celebrated Senior Day in style, picking up one of its highest ranked wins in school history when it toppled No. 27 Columbia by a 4-2 margin on Saturday afternoon at Reis Tennis Center. The Big Red closed its regular season at 17-8 (4-3 Ivy), while the Lions fell to 14-8 (4-3 Ivy). Cornell will now hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship.
Cornell got started with the doubles point, earning victories at No. 1 and No. 3. The team of
Alafia Ayeni and Vlad Melnic earned a 6-3 triumph over Henry Ruger and Theo Winegar ont he top line, with
Evan Bynoe and
Pietro Rimondini picking up a 6-2 triumph at No. 3. Ayeni, Bynoe and Rimondini were all among those honored on senior day.
Ayeni, ranked No. 45 in the latest ITA Rankings, pulled out a 7-5, 7-5 win over Hugo Hashimoto, one of three Big Red singles wins to help the home team pick up its 17th victory of the year.
Radu Papoe lost just four games in the win at No. 3 and
Adit Sinha closed it out at No. 5 with a 6-2, 7-6 triumph over Roey Tabet.
#68 Cornell 4, #17 Columbia 2
Doubles
1. #24
Alafia Ayeni/Vlad Melnic (Cor) def. Henry Ruger/Theo Winegar (Col), 6-3
2.
Nathan Mao/
Adit Sinha (Cor) vs. Roey Tabet/Max Westphal (Col), 2-5 UNF
3.
Evan Bynoe/
Pietro Rimondini (Cor) def. Austen Huang/Hugo Hashimoto (Col), 6-2
Singles
1. #45
Alafia Ayeni (Cor) def. Hugo Hashimoto (Col), 7-5, 7-5
2. Max Westphal (Col) def. Vlad Melnic (Cor), 6-3, 6-2
3.
Radu Papoe (Cor) def. Henry Ruger (Col), 6-1, 6-4
4. Austen Huang (Col) def.
Nathan Mao (Cor), 6-4, 7-6
5.
Adit Sinha (Cor) def. Roey Tabet (Col), 6-2, 7-6
6.
Evan Bynoe (Cor) vs. Ben Golin (Col), 6-7, 4-4 UNF
