ITHACA, N.Y. -- It was a successful opening day for the Cornell men's tennis team on Saturday afternoon, as it picked up a pair of victories over Niagara and Buffalo from the Reis Tennis Center. 

The Big Red knocked off Niagara in match one, 6-1, before sweeping Buffalo in the nightcap its 2024 spring opener. 

NIAGARA RECAP

Junior Radu Papoe and freshman Eric Verdes teamed up for the first time this spring to clinch the first point on the day for Cornell in a 6-1 decision over Niagara's Tanner Bedard and Vid Maric.

Cornell would roll to open singles, as freshman Felipe Pinzon (No. 3 singles) and senior Muhammad Dossani (No. 5 singles) earned the first two wins in straight sets, pushing Cornell to a 3-0 lead. The Purple Eagles answered the call after the consecutive wins for the Big Red, as freshman Jose Maria Garcia earned a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Cornell's Maxwell Moadel (No. 6 singles) to shrink the lead to 3-1.

Despite the win by Niagara, the Big Red kept rolling, as Paquette (No. 2 singles) made quick work of Vid Maric in a 6-1, 6-3 victory to retake a three point advantage. The final singles' matches against the Purple Eagles were a back-and-forth affair, as Noah Eisenberg and Aman Sharma had to work on the court. Eisenberg would pull out a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Gurustat Makkar, while Sharma (No. 1 singles) slammed the door shut on Tanner Bedard, taking his match via a 7-5, 6-4 decision to clinch the 6-1 decision for the Big Red.

Cornell's victory now puts them at 4-0 in the all-time series against the Purple Eagles, dating back to their first battle in 2008.

BUFFALO RECAP

Cornell wasted no time earning the first point of the night in doubles, as the tandems of Samuel Paquette/Petar Teodorovic and Papoe/Verdes lost just a combined four of the 20 games played in separate 6-2 decisions.

Paquette (No. 5) started the roll when the battle switched to singles, earning a straight-sets victory over Buffalo's Michael Malkin to put the Big Red up 2-0. Pinzon (No. 6 singles) had to work a little from his cruise earlier in match one against Niagara, but the freshman pulled out a 6-4, 6-2 decision over Yunhan Jiang to put Cornell up 3-0. Sharma (No. 4 singles) and Teodorovic (No. 2 singles) followed Pinzon with straight-set victories to keep the foot on the gas pedal for the home team. 

But the final two sets involving Verdes (No. 3 singles) and senior Bradley Paliska (No. 1 singles) were instant classics, as both matches went three sets. Verdes would rebound after losing the opening set 7-5 to Theodoros Mitsakos, flipping the script with a 6-3 victory in set two to set up a tiebreaker. The freshman would get the best of the Bulls sophomore in the extra set, earning a 10-7 victory to take the sixth point of the night. Paliska would also be in a dogfight with junior Daniils Snaiders. After splitting the first two sets, it was time for the final tiebreaker of the evening. And with his teammates watching from the next court over, the senior got the job done, winning 10-5 to complete the Saturday sweep for the Big Red. 

The sweep of the Bulls by the Big Red is now the 31st win in 32 tries against its Western New York foe and the seventh straight under Silviu Tanasoiu.

UP NEXT
Cornell will close its season-opening weekend with two more matches tomorrow against St. John's (1 p.m.) and new Division I addition Le Moyne (5 p.m.) from the Reis Tennis Center.