ITHACA, N.Y. -- Two more Ivy League matches are on the books for Cornell men's tennis this weekend, as the Big Red hosts Penn on Friday before heading up to Princeton to battle the Tigers on Sunday.

#55 PENN at #28 CORNELL
SITE: Reis Tennis Center - Ithaca, N.Y.
DATE and TIME: Friday, April 5 at 2 p.m.
RECORDS: Penn (14-8, 0-1 Ivy League), Cornell (14-4, 1-0 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Penn leads, 49-44-1

#28 CORNELL at #30 PRINCETON
SITE: Lenz Tennis Center - Princeton, N.J.
DATE and TIME: Sunday, April 7 at 1 p.m.
RECORDS: Cornell (14-4, 1-0 Ivy League), Princeton (18-5, 1-0 Ivy League)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 95-15-1

LAST TIME OUT: BIG RED PULLS MASSIVE UPSET OVER COLUMBIA 
Cornell will look to keep the momentum rolling after pulling its largest win of the season so far last Saturday, cruising to a 6-1 upset over then-No. 9 Columbia from the Reis Tennis Center. The victory gave Cornell its second win in the last three matches against its Ivy rival while also snapping the Lions' season-long winning streak at eight matches. 

The Big Red took the early momentum in doubles action, using wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions to steal the first point. Eric Verdes and Petar Teodorovic teamed up for their first win over a ranked duo this season in No. 32 Nicolas Kotzen / Max Westphal (6-2), while the junior-senior combo of Radu Papoe and Samuel Paquette picked up their fifth-straight match with a 6-2 decision over Alex Kotzen and Henry Ruger. 

Cornell's wave of winning continued in singles, as Papoe made quick work of Michael Zheng (6-4, 6-0) to earn his sixth victory over a ranked opponent and push the score to 2-0. The Lions did counter after the Papoe victory with a win in the No. 5 position, with Hugo Hashimoto handing Nathan Mao his first defeat in four matches to pull within one. Adit Sinha pushed the match back in Cornell's favor, taking a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Alex Kotzen and putting the Big Red in the driver's seat. Teodorovic sealed the deal minutes later, battling back from dropping the first set to defeat Nicolas Kotzen (4-6, 6-4, 6-3) and letting out a roar of approval for the Big Red fans who attended the match. Bradley Paliska (4-6, 6-1, 6-2) and freshman Felipe Pinzon (3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (10-6)) finished their matches to close a 5-1 day on the singles side for the Big Red.

ITA RANKINGS UPDATE
After its major victory over the Lions, the Big Red slid up to No. 28 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings released Tuesday afternoon. Moving up three spots is the largest jump for any of the six Ivy League teams currently in the top 75. Penn was the other member of the Ancient Eight to rise this week, going up two spots from No. 57 to No. 55. Columbia (No. 10), Harvard (No. 12), Princeton (No. 30), and Yale (No. 72) are the other ranked teams in the Ivy.

Switching over to singles, Cornell still has two representatives in the top 125. Radu Papoe stayed put at No. 13 after going 2-0 over Indiana's Sam Landau (6-2, 6-2) and Columbia's Michael Zheng (6-4, 6-0), and junior Adit Sinha rose from No. 63 to No. 61 after extending his winning streak to seven-straight matches with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Alex Kotzen. 

INSIDE THE IVY: PENN
Friday's match in Ithaca will be the 95th all-time meeting between the Quakers and the Big Red. Penn and Cornell have split the last ten matches down the middle, with the Quakers taking the most recent battle in a 4-3 win at the 2024 ECAC Indoor Championships on Feb. 17. Cornell has not won a match against Penn in the Reis Tennis Center since a 4-1 victory on April 15, 2016. 

Penn comes into the weekend at 14-8 overall and 0-1 in Ivy League action. The Quakers were rocking a four-match winning streak before falling in its conference opener to Princeton, 4-2, last Saturday from the Hamlin/Hecht Tennis Centers. Penn took the first point in doubles before Princeton grabbed wins in singles from the No. 2 and No. 4 positions to take a 2-1 lead. Penn would tie things up at two before the Tigers clinched the match with wins at the No. 1 and No. 4 spots. 

Sophomore Matthew Rutter has been the most successful singles player for the Quakers this spring, sitting at 16-2 overall, and has not lost a head-to-head battle since a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to VCU's Romain Gales on Feb. 2. Classmate Manfredi Graziani has also excelled with an 8-8 record from the No. 1 position but is looking to rebound after falling in straight sets to No. 49 Paul Inchauspe. Kian Vakili and Aaron Sandler are the top doubles pair, currently sitting at No. 67 in the latest ITA rankings. The duo are 12-5 this spring and riding a three-match winning streaking, including an upset over the Tigers' top pair in Flilippos Astreinidis and Paul Inchauspe last weekend.

INSIDE THE IVY: PRINCETON
Sunday's 1 p.m. first serve will be the 122nd all-time battle between the Tigers and the Big Red. Despite Princeton having a 95-15-1 edge in the all-time series, Cornell has won six out of the last ten. The Big Red has struggled at matches played inside the Garden State, having not won an Ivy League match over the Tigers since squeaking out a 4-3 decision on April 17, 2016. 

Princeton is currently 18-5 and 1-0 after taking down Penn last Saturday in Philadelphia. The Tigers made their money in singles action, winning four of the five matches that finished to knock off the Quakers. The Tigers do have a tough test ahead of its matchup with the Big Red on Sunday, traveling to Columbia to battle the Lions on Friday. 

Paul Inchauspe has dominated this season, as the No. 39 ranked singles player has put together a 25-9 record, with 15 of those victories coming from the No. 1 position. He is one of three Tigers to have 20 or more wins this season, with Ellis Short (22-12) and Fnu Nidunjianzan (21-11) being the other two. Inchaupse has also teamed up with Filippos Astreinidis on the doubles side, as the No. 31 ranked tandem is 7-3 this season. Sebastian Sec and Ellis Short lead the Tigers in doubles with a 10-6 record. 

UP NEXT
The Big Red will close out its Ivy League home schedule with two matches next weekend, first against Harvard on Saturday, April 13 at 1 p.m. before turning around to welcome Dartmouth on Sunday, April 14 at 1 p.m. Cornell will also honor its four seniors (Muhammad Dossani, Matthew Druyanoff, Bradley Paliska, and Samuel Paquette) and their contributions to the program.