ITHACA, N.Y. -- The 25th-ranked Cornell men's tennis team will head to New York City to face Ivy rival and 36th-ranked Penn in a non-conference matchup on Saturday, March 7 at 12 p.m. at at the Cary Leeds Tennis Center in the Bronx. It will be the second straight season the Big Red will play in the Bronx after a 4-1 defeat to Yale in 2024-25.

Cornell is 9-2 on the season with road wins over Louisville, Purdue and Old Dominion, home sweeps of Buffalo and St. John's and a strong third-pace finish at the ECAC Indoor Championships that included victories over Yale and Penn. The Big Red's two losses this season came against then-No. 12 Columbia at ECACs and a narrow 4-3 defeat to No. 44 Michigan at ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Cornell most recently swept a pair of matches in Virginia, picking up 4-1 road victories over VCU and No. 63 Old Dominion.

Sophomore Rodrigo Fernandes, ranked No. 44 nationally, is 17-7 on the season from the top spot. Both Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar (15-5) and Felipe Pinzon (12-6) have also excelled in the top-half of the lineup. The doubles tandem of Senthil Kumar and Rushil Khosla is ranked No. 72 nationally and is 12-4 on the season, while the NCAA qualifying pair of Pinzon and Teodorovic is off to a 10-3 start. Fernandes and Eric Verdes sit No. 51 nationally in doubles with an 8-2 mark. Big Red head coach Silviu Tanasiou sports a 195-108 career record (.644) entering the weekend and has four NCAA tournament appearances with first-round wins each year.

The Quakers, now 9-3 this season, feature No. 45 Manfredi Graziani and No. 121 Shaurya Bharadwaj in the singles lineup, while Graziani and Aaron Sandler are the sixth-ranked doubles team in the country. Penn has won three straight entering the weekend with victories at Yale and at home vs. South Florida and Florida Atlantic, improving its home record to 6-0 this season. Head coach Rich Bonfiglio sports a 46-24 (5-9 Ivy) record in his third season directing the program.