The No. 72 men’s tennis team wanted to upset No. 49 Brown this past weekend. But instead, it was Cornell who would be upset — losing, 4-3, to unranked Yale on Friday, before falling, 6-1, to Brown on Saturday.
The netters (13-7, 2-3 Ivy) started off against Yale by taking the early doubles point. Seniors Zach Gallin and Scott Spencer won at the No. 2 doubles spot, while senior Scott Paltrowitz and junior Abedin Sham won, 9-8, at the No. 3 spot.
But the Elis (9-11, 2-2) took four of the six singles points to win the match. Gallin, at the No. 1 spot, and freshman Nick Brunner, at the No. 5 spot, earned the Red’s two singles wins. Yale played with great effort, according to Sham.
“We really expected to come out on top,” he said. “We were ready. We just didn’t play as well as them.”
On Saturday, the disappointed Red could not compete against Brown (18-4, 4-0), and the Bears won, 6-1.
“We didn’t have the same energy,” Sham said.
Gallin earned Cornell’s only win of the day. The Long Island native improved his conference record to 5-0, and again proved why he is considered one the Ivy League’s best. Gallin has defeated a number of highly-ranked opponents this year, including No. 89 Jonathan Chu of Harvard.
“Zach was playing at an unbelievable level,” Sham said. “I’ve been practicing with him, and he can’t miss.”
Cornell will look to rebound next week, when it closes out its season against Princeton and Penn.
Women
The women’s team won its first Ivy League match in two years on Saturday, defeating Brown, 5-2. “To get that first win was pretty clutch,” said senior Laura Leigh Tallent. “It obviously builds up our confidence.”
Cornell (7-7, 1-4) has had a number of close league matches this year. The netters were finally able to earn a conference victory by winning the doubles point and most of the singles matches.
“We won the doubles point,” Tallent said. “That always gets the team really psyched going into the singles.”
Juniors Akane Kokubo and Erika Takeuchi won their singles matches, as did junior Melissa Tu and freshman Kasia Preneta.
On Friday, the Red played No. 74 Yale. Tallent won at the No. 1 spot, and the netters also earned the doubles point. But Cornell came up short, losing, 5-2.
Tallent, the team’s lone senior, said that Cornell has made some real progress this year, despite playing a tough schedule.
“Our team is a lot stronger,” she said. “Likewise, our competition has gotten a lot stronger.”
The netters will conclude their season against Penn and Princeton next week.
Archived article by Ted Nyman
Sun Staff Writer