DURHAM, N.C. — The No. 41-ranked Cornell men's tennis team will seek its first-ever appearance in the Super Regionals when it faces No. 12-seeded Duke at the Ambler Tennis Stadium at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Cornell (18-6) is coming off a 4-3 victory over No. 23-ranked Auburn yesterday afternoon, as sophomores Nathan Mao and Radu Papoe, and freshman Petar Teodorovic, guided the Big Red to avenge a 3-1 deficit to advance to the Round of 32.

Last Time Out

Freshman Petar Teodorovic's three-set victory against Auburn's Finn Murgett, who entered ranked No. 111 in the ITA's most recent singles rankings, helped lead the No. 41-ranked Cornell men's tennis team to a 4-3 victory over No. 23-ranked Auburn at the Angler Tennis Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

After dropping the first doubles match, junior Samuel Paquette and Teodorovic cruised to a 6-1 victory before Papoe and fellow sophomore Aman Sharma won 6-3 to give Cornell the first point of the match.

Auburn recorded a trio of straight-set victories to take the 3-1 advantage before Mao had a straight-set victory of his own to trim the deficit.

Papoe defeated No. 51-ranked Tyler Stice, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, before Teodorovic bested Murgett, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, to clinch the Big Red's spot in the second round.

NCAA Tournament History

Cornell is making its third appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Big Red is 2-2 all-time in the tournament. Along with yesterday's win, Cornell also defeated Rice, 4-0, in the first round of the 2017 Waco Regional before falling by a 4-0 margin to Baylor in the second round.

The Big Red are seeking to reach the Super Regionals for the first time in program history.

With No. 11-seeded Harvard's second-round victory over Arizona State on Saturday, Cornell is seeking to be the second Ivy League program to reach the Super Regionals of this year's NCAA Tournament. It would be the first time in Ivy League history in which two Ancient Eight programs have reached the Round of 16 in the same NCAA Tournament.

Reunion Time

Cornell assistant coach Spencer Furman will be coaching against some familiar faces as he will be coaching against his alma mater.

A 2020 graduate from Duke, Furman was a four-time ACC Academic Honor Roll honoree and two-time All-ACC Academic Team selection. During his senior year in the spring of 2020, Furman went 8-5 in singles play before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also went 10-1 in doubles with teammate Luca Kreist before the season was halted.

Furman was also a two-time ITA All-Academic Scholar-Athlete, as well as a Second Team All-ACC selection in 2017 during his freshman campaign.

Scouting Duke

Duke enters the tournament as the No. 12-seeded team with a 21-6 overall record, as it is making its 30th all-time appearance in the NCAA Team Championship.

The Blue Devils went 11-1 in ACC play this season, only losing to then-No. 12-ranked Virginia, 7-0, on March 19.

Following its setback to Virginia in regular-season play, the Blue Devils have won 10 of its last 11, with the lone setback being to then-No. 8-ranked Virginia in the ACC Championship game on April 23.

The lone common opponent that Cornell and Duke have played this season was Harvard, who defeated the Blue Devils on its indoor home court on Jan. 22, 4-3.

Cornell is playing an ACC team for the first time since defeating Louisville, 4-0, in Iowa City, Iowa, on March 7, 2020. The Big Red has won its last two matches against ACC opposition, also defeating Clemson, 4-0, in Ithaca on March 8, 2019.

Duke Rewind

On Saturday, Duke defeated UNCW, 4-2, to advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

Despite dropping the doubles point, the Blue Devils recorded straight-set victories at the top three singles matches and at No. 6 to defeat its fellow Tar Heel State opponent.

Garrett Johns, who is ranked No. 12 in the ITA singles rankings, gave up just three points in his match at No. 1, while No. 52-ranked Pedro Rodenas dropped four points at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-1.

Johns is 14-10 in dual matches this season — all at No. 1. Rodenas has an impressive 25-2 record in dual matches this season, going 16-0 at No. 2.

The tandem of Johns and Rodenas have also excelled at doubles, going 16-3 in dual matches this spring. They won at No. 1 doubles, 6-2, on Saturday.

Looking Ahead

The winner of Sunday's match will play the winner of the match between No. 5 Virginia and Ole Miss in the Super Regionals next weekend.

Date, time, and location of the super regional match has yet to be announced.