After a convincing 7-0 victory over St. Bonaventure last week, the men’s tennis team will attempt to make it 2-0 on Sunday when it hosts Penn State at 3 p.m.
“This will have the same intensity as an Ivy match,” said head coach Barry Schoonmaker. “We know they’ll come in here and be ready.”
Junior Zach Gallin led the Red last weekend, winning his matches at first singles and while teamed with Scott Spencer at first doubles. The duo defeated St. Bonaventure’s Mario Arce and Vili Nurmi 8-3. Cornell teams of Julian Cheng and Matt Cherner-Ranft, and Mike Schlappig and Brett McKeon also won their doubles matches last week.
On the singles side, Gallin defeated Arce 6-2, 6-2 in the top spot, while Scott Paltrowitz, McKeon, Arvinda Neuman, Spencer, and Mike Laycob won their matches in the No. 2 through 6 spots respectively.
The closest matches of the day were Paltrowitz’s 6-2, 7-6(4) win over Mikko Haules in the No. 2 spot and Spencer’s 6-4, 6-7(8), 10-3 victory against Adam Price at No. 5.
Despite last week’s success, the Red did not rest on its laurels in preparing this week for the Nittnay Lions.
“We need to do everything better,” said Schoonmaker. “It sounds silly but it’s true. This is a Big 10 team, which is pretty tough.”
A win this weekend would have huge implications for the Red as it progresses with the season.
“A win would be a good sign,” said Schoonmaker. “It will also give us a good idea of where it would put us in the [Ivy] League because Penn State would be towards the top of the Ivy League.”
Meanwhile, the women’s tennis team opens its spring season with the Cornell Winter Indoor Invitational, which will begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow and continue into Sunday.
The Red enjoyed a lot of success at last year’s Invitational, capturing three singles titles and the A flight doubles championship. Last year’s event was attended by Army, Columbia, and Syracuse.
During the fall season, the team experienced mixed success, winning a total of 13 matches in the season-opening Cornell Invitational, including impressive wins by the team of sophomore Melissa Tu and freshman Kara Maloy in the B flight singles. Maloy also enjoyed success at the University of Maryland Invitational, where she won the D flight singles.
Cornell closed out the fall by losing to Brown 4-2 in the second round of the ECAC Championships at the National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY. The Red outsted Rutgers 4-0 in the opening round of the tournament.
Following this weekend’s tournament, the Red will commence dual match play next weekend when it travels to Boston College and Boston University.
Archived article by Owen Bochner