ITHACA, N.Y. -- After six straight matches away from Ithaca, the No. 57 ranked Cornell men's tennis team will finally return home for a Saturday doubleheader against Southern Methodist University and Hobart College from the Reis Tennis Center.

SMU AT #57 CORNELL
SITE: Reis Tennis Center
DATE and TIME: Saturday, March 2 at Noon
RECORDS: SMU (8-6, 2-0 AAC), Cornell (7-3, 0-0 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: SMU leads, 3-0

HOBART AT #57 CORNELL
SITE: Reis Tennis Center
DATE and TIME: Saturday, March 2 at 5 p.m.
RECORDS: Hobart (0-1, 0-0 Liberty), Cornell (7-3, 0-0 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 1-0

LAST TIME OUT: BIG RED PULLS UPSET IN VOLUNTEER STATE AGAINST #26 BLUE RAIDERS
After a tough 4-3 loss to Oklahoma last Sunday, Cornell turned up the heat in its final match of February, taking down the No. 26 ranked Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on Tuesday from the Adams Family Complex. It was the first matchup between both teams since 2014 in Ithaca.

Middle Tennessee took the first point of the afternoon in an excited doubles section of the match, as Leo Raquin and Ondrej Horak took a 7-6 (7-3) victory over Nathan Mao and Adit Sinha, putting the pressure right on the Big Red heading into singles. Cornell immediately countered with the first win in singles, as senior Bradley Paliska grabbed a 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 4 singles to tie the match at one. The Blue Raiders tipped the battle back into their favor right after, as Shu Matsuoka defeated Samuel Paquette in straight sets to go back up by one. 

The Big Red did not waiver after falling behind, as the focus shifted to one of the entertaining matches of the day between Sinha and No. 107 Marcel Kamrowski. Sinha, who came into the battle on a two-match winning streak, fell behind early but recovered to take the opening set in a tiebreaker, 7-5. With the momentum on his side, Sinha did just enough to pull the upset, securing a 7-5 victory in the second set to tie things back up at one again. Sophomore Petar Teodorovic fed off Sinha's upset by clinching a sweep of Ondrej Horak (6-4, 7-6 (7-4)) to put the Big Red one point away from clinching the victory. 

The focus turned to No. 1 singles, as Papoe, coming off his first singles loss of the spring season at Oklahoma, struggled in the opening set of his match against No. 33 Leo Raquin, falling 6-4. But the junior captain's confidence never waived, as he swept the next two sets to secure the win and the match for the Big Red. 

INSIDE THE OPPONENT: SOUTHERN METHODIST
Cornell and SMU have matched up three times in program history (1994, 1995, 2023), with the Mustangs taking all three matchups. Last season's battle in Dallas favored SMU, 5-2, with Nathan Mao and Radu Papoe securing victories at No. 1 and No. 5 singles to earn the two points for the Big Red. Cornell was also ranked No. 21 at the time. 

The Mustangs roll into Saturday's match at 8-6 and are looking to snap a three-match losing streak, which extended with a 4-2 loss to No. 47 Arkansas on Wednesday afternoon in Dallas. The loss was also the first at home for the Mustangs, as the team came into the match with a 6-0 record at the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex. SMU started the battle against the Razorbacks with a victory in doubles, highlighted by a 6-2 win for the No. 46 ranked tandem of Adam Neff and Huntley Allen over No. 45 Jared Horwood/Melvin Manuel. Trevor Svadja kept the Mustangs ahead for the time being with his 6-1, 6-4 sweep of Gerard Planelles Ripoll before the Razorbacks ripped off victories at the No. 6, No. 2, and No. 3 positions to secure the win. 

Graduate student Eric Hadigian has been one of the top performers in singles this season for SMU, sporting a 14-2 record and winning nine out of his last ten matches. Adam Neff and Huntley Allen are the Mustangs' top duo in doubles, going 5-3 when teaming up this year. 

INSIDE THE OPPONENT: HOBART
The New York rivals will face off at the Reis Tennis Center for the second straight season in Saturday's evening match. Cornell was on fire during the team's matchup last February from the Reis Tennis Center, securing the doubles point and three consecutive singles matches to ensure the victory, which ended up being a 6-1 final for the Big Red.

Hobart comes into the weekend at No. 33 overall in the latest ITA Division III men's tennis team rankings. The Statesmen have only competed in one match so far this spring, falling at home to Denison University, 7-2, in Bristol Field House on Saturday, Feb. 17. Hobart secured the first point of the night in doubles, as Sean Pesin and Nick Fischer knocked off the eighth-ranked doubles team in DIII in Ethan (8-6) to go up 1-0. Denison would lay down the hammer after the upset, winning five consecutive matches over doubles and singles to secure a 5-2 lead and the win for the Big Red. Hobart's other point on the day came from freshman Achilleas Kousaridis, who defeated Ryan Patrick, 6-1, 0-6, 6-3 at the No. 5 position in singles.

UP NEXT
The Big Red will hit the road again, heading out to East Lansing to battle the No. 15 ranked Michigan State Spartans on Sunday, March 10. Doubles action will begin at noon from the MSU Tennis Center.