This Saturday, the Red netters hosted the Quakers of Pennsylvania in a critical Ivy contest. Cornell coach Barry Schoonmaker pulled a strategic switch in the lineup at the last minute that proved to be one of decisions of the season.
The Red kicked off the afternoon with three consecutive wins, a sweep in the doubles matches. First time duo, senior Chris Lewis and sophomore Scott Spencer, teamed up to take the No. 3 doubles 8-6 in a hard fought duel. Senior captain Stefan Paulovic and sophomore Zach Gallin combined to win the No. 2 doubles contest, 8-2, in decisive fashion. Finally, sophomores Mike Schlappig and Julian Cheng concluded the doubles matches with an 8-6 win over Penn’s No. 1 pair.
The Red also won four of six matches in singles play to cap the victory at 5-2. The highlight of singles play was Lewis’ 6-0, 6-2 victory in his last home match of his Cornell career. His success was followed shortly after by victories from Cheng, Schlappig, and sophomore Scott Paltrowitz.
The convincing victory helped the Red clinch a winning record in the Ivies this season, something it hadn’t accomplished since 1966.
Paulovic summed up the team’s performance, “I am extremely proud of each and every member of this squad. It wasn’t easy for us to do this well with our top three players injured for most of the season, not to mention the fact that we haven’t done this well in 36 years.”
Unfortunately, the Red wasn’t as successful on the road against Princeton. The Tigers laid the Red to rest, 6-1, yesterday to conclude both of their Ivy seasons.
The only two victories of the day came from Paulovic and Gallin at No. 1 doubles, 9-7, and Paltrowitz at No. 4 singles 6-0, 3-6, 6-3. The loss was definitely “disappointing” explained Paulovic, but “both teams played really tough, and it’s a great accomplishment to finish 4-3 with all we’ve faced.”
Paulovic further assured, “I feel like I am leaving the team in good hands, with some really strong, young talent that is capable of bringing home an Ivy title to Ithaca. I know we have some good recruits coming our way, and as some of the underclassmen have proved time after time, they are capable of leading us to victory.”
Archived article by Adam Zwecker