ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's tennis team closes its non-conference slate with a road trip to Virginia to battle VCU on Friday before heading to the Midwest to face off against Indiana University from Bloomington.

#36 CORNELL AT #41 VCU
SITE: Thalhimer Tennis Center - Richmond, Va.
DATE and TIME: Friday, March 22 at 10 a.m.
RECORDS: Cornell (11-4, 0-0 Ivy League), VCU (7-8, 1-0 Atlantic 10)
SERIES RECORD: VCU leads, 6-3
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast

#36 CORNELL AT #52 INDIANA
SITE: IU Tennis Center - Bloomington, Ind.
DATE and TIME: Sunday, March 24 at 3 p.m.
RECORDS: Cornell (11-4, 0-0 Ivy League), Indiana (11-4, 0-0 Big Ten)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 3-1
WATCH LIVE: iuhoosiers.com
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast

LAST TIME OUT: BIG RED SWEEPS QUINNIPIAC, PENN STATE
Cornell's final non-conference weekend at the Reis Tennis Center was a success last Sunday, as the Big Red swept both Quinnipiac and Penn State to extend its winning streak to four consecutive matches. 

The Big Red had no problem taking the doubles point in both matches on the shoulders of two duos. Eric Verdes and Petar Teodorovic snapped their two-match losing streak by picking up separate 6-2 and 6-3 decisions from the No. 2 position, while Radu Papoe and Samuel Paquette won their third and fourth matches together since being paired up as a duo for the first time against Oklahoma on Feb. 25, giving the Big Red the early momentum against the Bobcats and the Nittany Lions.

Cornell's momentum immediately continued into singles play in both matches as well. Sophomore Noah Eisenberg continued his roll during the spring season, pushing his record to 5-0 with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win over Quinnipiac's ShauryaSood before turning around in the nightcap to take down Penn State's Alexander Sterin in straight sets. Verdes was the other lone Big Red athlete to appear in singles in both matches, earning consecutive sweeps over Csanad Nyaradi (6-4, 6-4) and Ari Cotoulas (6-4, 6-3) to move to 5-1 on the season. Other notable wins for the Big Red in singles came in a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win for Bradley Paliska over PSU's Stefan Simeunovic and junior Adit Sinha earning his sixth consecutive victory in a 6-4, 6-1 decision over PSU's Nolan Ranger.

ITA RANKINGS UPDATE: TWO BIG RED ATHLETES RANKED IN SINGLES, CORNELL STAYS PUT IN TEAM 
Two Cornell men's tennis players found themselves in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association's collegiate singles rankings released on Tuesday. Radu Papoe is still the headliner for the Big Red, rising from No. 19 on March 5 to No. 13 overall this week. It is the highest the junior from Romania has ever been placed in singles, rising as high as 17 earlier this season. Papoe is not alone in the singles rankings, as junior Adit Sinha is slated inside for the first time in his Cornell career at No. 63. With Papoe's and Sinha's ranking, Cornell now has two players in the singles rankings for the first time since David Volfson '19 and Alafia Ayeni '22 made the list on April 23, 2019. 

As a team, the Big Red stayed as they were last week at No. 36, just behind the University of Louisville. Five Ivy League foes also still find themselves in the rankings as well in Columbia (No. 7), Harvard (No. 11), Princeton (No. 31), Penn (No. 55), and Yale (No. 66). Dartmouth, who was No. 70 last week, fell out of the Top 75. 

INSIDER: VCU
Cornell and VCU have duked it out on the court nine times in program history. The Rams hold a 6-3 advantage in those contests and have won the last two, including a 4-2 decision in Ithaca in 2023. Cornell won its last trip to Richmond, gutting out a 4-3 victory on March 8, 2014. 

The Rams are looking to turn its 2024 spring season around, rolling into the weekend at 7-8 overall and 1-0 in the Atlantic 10. Five of those eight losses have come against ranked opponents. VCU is also looking to snap a three-match skid that includes a 4-0 loss to No. 4 Wake Forest last Sunday in Winston-Salem. Despite the overall record, the Rams still sit behind Cornell at No. 41 in the ITA team rankings. Matisse Bobichon (No. 86) and Mathis Bondaz (No. 92) are the two Rams ranked in singles. Bobichon has a 12-9 record over the fall and spring seasons combined but has struggled since the calendar has flipped to the new year, going 4-6 overall and 3-4 from the No. 1 position. Bondaz is 9-3 overall this year and a perfect 6-0 from the No. 2 position. German Samofalov and Oscar Pinto Sansano are VCU's top doubles team at 12-6 and are the 45th-best duo in ITA doubles. Samofalov and Sansano also sport a six-match winning streak coming into Friday.

INSIDER: INDIANA
Sunday's match between the Big Red and the Hoosiers will be the fifth time both teams have met up in the series. Indiana ventured to Ithaca last season for a match on Feb. 25 but went home with a 7-0 loss. 

Indiana comes into the weekend at 11-4 overall and is a perfect 10-0 inside the IU Tennis Center. Its match Sunday against the Big Red will also be the second of back-to-back home matches on the weekend, as the team will open Big Ten play on Saturday against Purdue. Indiana is also ranked No. 52 in the ITA team rankings coming into the weekend. Sam Landau is the top player in singles for the Hoosiers, sitting in the No. 55 spot in the ITA singles rankings with a 15-3 overall record. The sophomore has had a great spring session at 7-2 overall and 4-2 from the No. 1 position. Facundo Yunis has also been a solid singles player for the Hoosiers with an 8-2 record, with five of those victories have come from the No. 2 spot. Switching to doubles, Michael Andre and Ilya Tiraspolsky roll into the weekend on a four-match winning streak and have an 8-1 record overall this spring. The duo is ranked No. 50 in the most recent ITA doubles rankings. 

UP NEXT
With its non-conference slate wrapped up, the Big Red will immediately jump into Ivy League play with a tough match against No. 7 Columbia on Sunday, March 31 at 1 p.m. from the Reis Tennis Center.