ITHACA, N.Y. -- The 31st-ranked Cornell men's tennis team continued its surge through Ivy League play with a 4-2 victory over No. 41 Harvard on Sunday afternoon at the Reis Tennis Center. The Big Red improved to 17-3 (5-1 Ivy), while Harvard fell to 13-12 (3-3 Ivy).

Cornell once again set the tone in doubles, capturing the opening point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3. Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar and Rushil Khosla evened the doubles matches with a 6-2 victory, and Petar Teodorovic and Felipe Pinzon followed with a 6-4 win to secure the early lead after Harvard took the No. 1 spot.

The Big Red carried that momentum into singles, winning three of the first four completed matches to clinch the victory.

At No. 4, Senthil Kumar delivered a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win over Melchior Delloye to extend the lead. Harvard responded with a win at No. 6, but Cornell answered in a pair of key three-set matches.

Eric Verdes rallied from a first-set deficit to defeat Benjamin Privara 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 2, and Rodrigo Fernandes followed with a comeback victory of his own, topping No. 51 Rohan Murali 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 at the top spot to secure the fourth point in a high-level thriller. The No. 5 match was left unfinished once the outcome was decided.

The win marked Cornell's 12th in its last 13 matches, including eight victories over ranked opponents. Cornell's victory sets up a decisive matchup with No. 27 Columbia Lions men's tennis on Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m. at the Reis Tennis Center, with a share of the Ivy League title and the conference's automatic NCAA bid on the line.