The Cornell men’s tennis team didn’t lose a single match in two 9-0 dual win sweeps over Ripon and Lawrence on Senior Day Saturday at the Small Sport Center Arena.
Seniors Michael Coester and Bryce Fincher were honored before the Lawrence dual where the Rams (9-13, 2-2 MWC) took down the Vikings (4-12, 2-2 MWC), 9-0.
In doubles play, the Rams took every match to jump out to an early lead. Alexander Hadler-Strumlauf and Federico Polidori led off with an 8-2 win at No. 1, with Zachary Ong and Chris Penas-Hull taking a decisive 8-3 win at No.2, same with No. 3 August Krahn and Edwin Holyoake 8-2.
The Rams won every singles match against the Vikings in straight sets. Polidori won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles. Ong beat Dylan Delgado at No. 3 singles 6-2, 6-1 as Penas-Hull took a 6-1, 6-1 win over Zhang Yuming at No. 4. Jackson Smock won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 singles over Jackson Gross.
Moving outdoors against Ripon (5-11, 2-2 MWC) the Rams won each doubles match with dominant wins at No. 1 with Hadler-Strumaluf 8-1 and No. 3 with August Krahn and Edwin Holyoake 8-2. No 2 doubles team Ong and Penas-Hull won in an 8-7 (7-5) tiebreaker to help the Rams secure each double point.
Four singles were won in straight sets for the Rams as two went into three sets. Polidori’s match at No. 2 was back and forth with Polidori coming out victorious, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2. Edwin Holyoake at No. 5 singles fell behind to Ty Rondestvedt, but stormed back to take the win 1-6, 7-5, 10-4.
The Rams took down Ripon for the first time since 2019.
Earlier in the week, Junior Alexander Hadler-Strumlauf posted his 70th career victory Thursday afternoon in Cornell’s 6-3 dual loss to Loras at Tucker Tennis Courts.
Hadler-Strumlauf continued his strong play at the top of the lineup, outlasting Loras’ No. 1 player Kevin Blomquist in three sets, 7-5, 5-7, 10-3. It was the 20th overall win of the season for Hadler-Strumlauf.
First-year Zachary Ong tallied his team-leading 13th singles win of the year. He improved to 13-10 with a victory at the No. 3 singles slot. Ong won the first set 7-6 (8-6) before his opponent retired.
The Duhawks (9-5) prevailed in the other four singles matches in straight sets.
The Rams (7-13) picked up a tight 8-7 doubles decision from No. 3 tandem August Krahn and Edwin Holyoake. The Cornell pair secured the match with an 8-6 tiebreaker.
Cornell mens tennis splits week
April 20, 2023