The men’s tennis team (16-9, 3-4 Ivy) ended its season with a win yesterday, defeating Penn, 6-1, in dominating fashion. Cornell took all three doubles matches for the first time this Ivy season and enjoyed wins throughout the singles ladder.
Senior Zach Gallin earned a victory at the No. 1 spot and finished his Ivy season with a 6-1 record. Senior Scott Paltrowitz won the No. 2 spot, while sophomore Brett McKeon notched a win at the No. 3 spot.
Freshman Nick Brunner’s match went to a tiebreaker before defeating his opponent at the No. 5 spot, and junior Abedin Sham went three sets before winning at No. 6.
Although the team lost four Ivy matches this year, it did enjoy a remarkable winter season that included a nine match winning streak. Gallin had one of the best seasons in the League and Spencer and Paltrowitz both turned in strong campaigns.
Meanwhile, Brunner and freshman Josh Raff played well all year long at doubles; the underclassmen will be of great importance next year, as the Red looks to replace six graduating seniors.
Women
The women’s team (7-9, 1-6 Ivy) also ended its season this past weekend, losing, 6-1, to Princeton on Friday and then falling, 5-2, to No. 45 Penn yesterday.
Princeton (7-11, 4-3) took the early doubles point as well as five singles matches.
Junior Akane Kokubo earned the Red’s only victory — a 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 triumph at the No. 2 singles spot. Kokubo’s hard-fought win featured two 12-game sets — one of which decided the match in her favor.
To finish the weekend, the netters traveled to Philadelphia to meet nationally-ranked Penn (15-5, 5-2). The Quakers took the doubles point, but Cornell did manage a pair of singles wins, with Junior Erika Takeuchi earing a victory at the No. 3 spot and junior Melissa Tu winning at No. 5.
Last year, Cornell won only two matches and went winless in the Ivy League. This year, the team earned a convincing victory over Brown and nearly defeated Columbia. With 10 of 11 team members returning, the Red will hope for even more improvement next year.
Archived article by Ted Nyman
Sun Staff Writer