The tennis teams penned identical success stories this past Sunday afternoon at the Reis Tennis Center, as both the men’s and women’s squads posted 5-2 victories over their Stony Brook counterparts.
This was the fourth consecutive victory for the men’s team, which is now 7-3 in its spring campaign and has worked its way up to a No. 72 ranking in the ITA College Tennis poll. The Stony Brook men’s team is now 4-5 on the season.
The Cornell women are building a winning streak of their own, earning their third straight win against Stony Brook (4-2), putting their spring record at 6-1.
The men opened the day with a sweep of the doubles matches, led by the No. 1 tandem of juniors Josh Raff and Charn Bak, who won their match, 8-5. The rookie duo of Josh Goldstein and Kyle Doppelt continued the run with an 8-4 win at the No. 2 spot, while freshman Peter Kung and sophomore Rory Heggie finished the sweep with an 8-4 win in the No. 3 matchup.
Raff stumbled in his first set in the No. 1 singles face off, falling 4-6 to Stony Brook’s Tal Meir. However, he quickly regained his footing and won the next two sets, 6-3 and 6-0, to claim his second win of the day.
Stony Brook took its only wins of the day in the singles competition, winning at the No. 2 and the No. 5 spots. However, Cornell was assured the win on the strength of Doppelt’s 6-2, 6-4 win over Nihal Advani at the No. 3 slot, Bak’s victory in straight sets at the No. 4 match up over Youssef Fassi-Fehri, and Goldstein’s insurance win over Dave Kortum at No. 6 by a score of 6-3, 6-4.
The women’s team matched the men’s success and stretched its own winning streak to three matches with a victory over the Sea Wolves.
The Red swept through the doubles matches, with senior Molly Edison and freshman Shayna Miller winning out at the No. 1 spot, the rookie duo of Tamara John and Elizabeth Googe earning more points for the Red at No. 2, and senior Liying Wang and junior Kasia Prenata completing the sweep with a dominating, 8-1, win in the No. 3 match.
Edison faltered in No. 1 singles, falling to the Sea Wolves’ Anne Catherine Valle, 6-1, 6-5. Stony Brook also snatched a win at the No. 3 spot, as Sandy Wijerante defeated John, 6-3, 6-1.
However, the Red secured the overall win by sweeping the rest of the singles match ups. Prenata took the No. 2 match up with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Hana Chovanova. Junior Nisha Suda beat Stony Brook’s Erica Federgreen in straight sets in the No. 4 face off, a feat that was echoed by freshman Catherine Duboc and Googe at the No. 5 and No. 6 slots, respectively.
Both Cornell squads will look to add to their respective winning streaks when they travel to warmer climates to face stiff competition over Spring Break. The women will travel to California, while the men are headed to Texas.
Archived article by Olivia Dwyer
Sun Sports Editor