ITHACA, N.Y. -- Everything is on the line this weekend at the Reis Tennis Center.

The Cornell men's tennis team will look to claim its third Ivy League title in program history, and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, when it hosts No. 22 Columbia on Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m. The Big Red will also honor its senior class as part of the day's festivities.

Seniors Noah Eisenberg, Aman Sharma and Petar Teodorovic will be recognized prior to their final home match. The trio has helped usher in one of the most successful stretches in program history, on the verge of becoming the first class to reach the NCAA Tournament in each of its seasons — and advance with first-round wins in each of the last three years.

An Ivy League title, however, has remained just out of reach.

That opportunity comes Saturday against the conference's top team.

Cornell enters the matchup with a 5-1 Ivy League record, while Columbia has already clinched a share of the title with a perfect 6-0 mark. A Big Red victory would create a tie at 6-1 atop the standings, with Cornell owning the head-to-head tiebreaker and the league's automatic NCAA berth. Both teams remain in position to earn at-large selections regardless of the outcome.

The Lions have won 19 consecutive Ivy League matches, with their last conference loss coming in Ithaca — a 6-1 Cornell victory over the then-No. 9 Lions in 2024. That match was highlighted by a 6-4, 6-0 win from All-American Radu Papoe over Zheng at the top of the lineup.

Cornell, ranked No. 29 in the latest ITA rankings, is 17-3 overall with ranked wins over Louisville, Yale, Penn (twice), Memphis, Middle Tennessee and Princeton. The Big Red enters the weekend riding a 12-1 stretch over its last 13 matches, including eight victories over ranked opponents. Most recently, Cornell swept No. 73 Dartmouth before earning a 4-2 victory over No. 41 Harvard at home.

Sophomore Rodrigo Fernandes, ranked No. 62 nationally, leads the lineup with a 22-10 record at the top spot. Eric Verdes (10-9) and Petar Teodorovic (14-9) have provided consistency in the upper half, while Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar (22-5), Felipe Pinzon (15-7) and Aman Sharma (11-8) have anchored the bottom half. In doubles play, Senthil Kumar and Rushil Khosla are 18-5 on the season, while the NCAA-qualifying tandem of Pinzon and Teodorovic is 19-3. Fernandes and Verdes add a 10-7 mark, with all three pairs earning national rankings at some point this season. Head coach Silviu Tanasiou enters the weekend with a 203-109 career record (.651).

Columbia brings a 16-6 overall record and a seven-match win streak into the contest as it looks to complete an unbeaten Ivy League season and secure its 19th conference title. Two-time NCAA singles champion Michael Zheng, ranked No. 5 nationally, leads the Lions with a 22-5 record. Nicolas Kotzen (No. 44, 27-9) and Sachin Palta (No. 96, 16-10) also give Columbia three nationally ranked singles players. In doubles, the teams of Thanaphat Boorsarawongse and Aditya Govila (No. 43) and Kotzen and Andrew Ena (No. 75) are both ranked inside the top 75. Under head coach Howard Endelman, Columbia owns wins over Illinois, Michigan and Pepperdine, with all six losses coming against top-40 opponents.

The Lions hold a 55-26 advantage in the all-time series and has won the last two meetings, including a 4-0 sweep at the ECAC Indoor Championships in February. In that match, Cornell's doubles team of Fernandes and Verdes earned a ranked win with a 7-6 victory over Kotzen and Ena.