Columbia
Cornell
No. 26 Men's Tennis Storms Past No. 46 Cornell, 6-1, in Ivy League Opener
3/28/2015 6:29:00 PM | Men's Tennis
NEW YORK - The No. 26 Columbia men's tennis team opened its Ivy League schedule Saturday afternoon at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center with a convincing 6-1 victory over No. 46 Cornell.
For the fourth straight season the Lions (9-5, 1-0 Ivy League) met the Big Red (8-6, 0-1 Ivy League) in their Ancient Eight opener and for the fourth consecutive meeting Columbia has come out victorious. The win pushes the Lions Ivy win streak to 12-straight matches dating back to April 13, 2012.
Columbia wasted no time winning its eighth doubles point of the season, holding off the Big Red in just 39 minutes. The Lions' top tandem of Winston Lin and Mike Vermeer, who rank 50th in the country, trailed Bernardo Casares Rosa and Chris Vrabel, 4-1. Columbia's senior-junior partnership not only came back, but rattled off five consecutive points to storm past Casares and Vrabel, 6-4. Finishing just seconds later by an identical score was Ashok Narayana and Dragos Ignat who edged Sam Fleck and Colin Sinclair on the second court.
The Lions did not lose momentum in singles as it took five of the six courts, including four in straight sets.
Narayana knocked off Casares, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 3 to put Columbia ahead 2-0. Bert Vancura was not far behind, besting Dylan Brown, 6-2, 7-5, in the fifth position to put the Lions on the verge of clinching.
Barely a minute passed before the Lions victory was sealed as No. 105 Ignat took down Stefan Vinit, 6-2, 7-5, in the second slot.
At No. 1, Lin, who ranks 21st in the country, rallied for a 6-2, 7-6 decision over Fleck and Vermeer kept his singles record perfect with a 7-6, (3-6), 10-7, triumph over Sinclair.
Columbia returns to action next weekend when it visits Dartmouth and Harvard. The Lions will first visit the Big Red Saturday, April 3, before stopping by Cambridge for a match versus the Crimson on Sunday, April 4. Both matches are set to begin at 1 p.m.
No. 26 Columbia 6 No. 46 Cornell 1
Doubles
1 - No. 50 Lin/Vermeer (COL) defeated Casares/Vrabel (COR), 6-4
2 - Narayana/Ignat (COL) defeated Fleck/Sinclair (COR), 6-4
3 - Schnur/Vancura (COL) vs. Vinti/Nguyen (COR), DNF 6-5
Singles
1 - No. 21 Winston Lin (COL) defeated Sam Fleck (COR), 6-2, 7-6
2 - No. 105 Dragos Ignat (COL) defeated Stefan Vinti (COR), 6-2, 7-5
3 - Ashok Narayana (COL) defeated Bernardo Casares Rosa, 6-4, 6-3
4 - Chris Vrabel (COR) defeated Shawn Hadavi (COL) 2-6, 7-5, 4-4 (ret.)
5 - Mike Vermeer (COL) defeated Colin Sinclair (COR) 7-6, 3-6, 10-7
6 - Bert Vancura (COL) defeated Dylan Brown (COR) 6-2, 7-5
Order of finish: (D) 1, 2 (S) 3, 6, 2, 1, 4, 5
