Saturday, 03/17/2012

ITHACA, N.Y. – The men's tennis team got back to winning ways on Saturday with a pair of victories over visiting Illinois State, 5-2, and Temple, 6-1. Freshman Quoc-Daniel Nguyen won both of his singles matches and both of his doubles matches on the day.
 
In the opening match, the Big Red locked up the doubles point with wins in all three matches featuring a new-look lineup. Freshmen Danny Riggs and Alex Sidney teamed up for the first time this season – fall or spring – to nail down an 8-6 victory at No. 1.
 
Sophomore Spencer Clark made his spring debut, teaming with freshman Sam Fleck to win the No. 3 doubles match, 8-6, before outlasting Illinois State's Muddappa Appanervanda at No. 6 singles, 7-6, 6-7, (10-5). That improved Clark's mark to 8-0 in dual matches in his collegiate career.
 
Illinois State (4-5) won matches at the top two spots in singles, but straight-set victories from Riggs (No. 3), Sidney (No. 4) and Nguyen (No. 5) tilted the match toward the host squad.
 
Sophmore Venkat Iyer and Nguyen won the first doubles match at No. 2 in the nightcap against the Owls, but the visitors' No. 1 team answered with a victory to rest the doubles point squarely in the hands of the No. 3 match. Cornell's Clark and Fleck came through with an 8-4 victory and give the Big Red an early 1-0 lead.
 
Turning to singles, Sidney made quick work of Temple's Dmitry Vizhunov at No. 4, 6-3, 6-1, and Iyer won his No. 1 match when Filip Rams retired with an injury to push the Big Red's lead to 3-0. Temple (4-4) answered with its lone point, a win from Stanislav Stekolshikov at No. 6, before Nguyen's 6-1, 6-1 win over Mansur Gishkaev at No. 5 clinched the match for Cornell. Riggs and Fleck then won their respective matches at Nos. 3 and 2 to close out the contest.
 
Cornell (7-8) is idle next weekend before returning to Reis for a non-league home match against Penn State at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 17.
 
CORNELL 6, TEMPLE 1
Saturday, March 3
At Reis Tennis Center; Ithaca, N.Y.
Singles
1. #93 Venkat Iyer (C) def. Filip Rams, 6-4, 0-1 (retired)
2. Sam Fleck (C) def. Kacper Rams, 7-6(4), 6-2
3. Danny Riggs (C) def. Kristian Marquart, 6-4, 6-2
4. Alex Sidney (C) def. Dmitry Vizhunov, 6-3, 6-1
5. Quoc-Daniel Nguyen (C) def. Mansur Gishkaev, 6-1, 6-1
6. Stanislav Stekolshikov (T) def. Spencer Clark, 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
1. F. Rams/K. Rams (T) def. Riggs/Sidney, 8-4
2. Iyer/Nguyen (C) def. Vizhunov/Marquart, 8-3
3. Clark/Fleck (C) def. Taylor Hairston/Gishkaev, 8-4
Records
Cornell 7-8, Temple 4-4
 
CORNELL 5, ILLINOIS STATE 2
Saturday, March 3
At Reis Tennis Center; Ithaca, N.Y.
Singles
1. Alex Pelaez (ISU) def. #93 Venkat Iyer, 6-3, 6-3
2. Tuomas Manner (ISU) def. Sam Fleck, 6-7, 6-3, (10-8)
3. Danny Riggs (C) def. Skip Span, 6-3, 6-3
4. Alex Sidney (C) def. Juuso Ojanen, 7-5, 6-2
5. Quoc-Daniel Nguyen (C) def. Willi Peter, 6-1, 6-3
6. Spencer Clark (C) def. Muddappa Appanervanda, 7-6, 6-7, (10-5)
Doubles
1. Riggs/Sidney (C) def. Appanervanda/Peter, 8-6
2. Iyer/Nguyen (C) def. Pelaez/Ojanen, 9-7
3. Clark/Fleck (C) def. Manner/Span, 8-6
Record
Illinois State 4-5