MOUNT VERNON – Second-year coach Trent Schneider's Rams have earned the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Conference Men's Tennis Team Tournament, kicking off a three-day Championships weekend at The Clubs at River City in Peoria, Ill.  
 
Cornell (4-2 MWC) faces No. 2 seed Lake Forest (5-1 MWC) in a semifinal dual at 10 a.m. Friday. Top-seeded and 18-time defending champion Grinnell (6-0 MWC) plays Ripon (3-3 MWC) in Friday's other semifinal.
 
The semifinal winners meet in the championship Friday afternoon for the MWC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
 
The Rams qualified for the MWC Tournament for the fourth consecutive season it has been contested. This is Cornell's highest seed since it was No. 2 in the 2017 field.
 
Cornell (11-13 overall) carries a four-dual winning streak into the postseason, having defeated its last four foes by 9-0 margins. The Rams dropped a 9-0 road decision to Lake Forest on April 8.
 
Fans can follow live scoring for all three duals Friday.
 
The MWC Individual Championships get underway at 9 a.m. Saturday with two rounds of singles and one round of doubles. The Championships resume at 9 a.m. Sunday. Live scoring is available for all individual matches.  
 
Cornell's individuals are seeded No. 3 in all singles and doubles flights. The Rams' young lineup features juniors Alexander Hadler-Strumlauf (4-2 MWC) and Federico Polidori (4-2) at No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, and also partnering at No. 1 doubles (4-2).
 
Hadler-Strumlauf is approaching the 30-win mark for the season, entering with a 28-20 overall record. Polidori has totaled 23 victories.
 
First-year Zachary Ong (4-2) at No. 3, sophomore Edwin Holyoake (3-1) at No. 4, first-year Jackson Smock (4-2) at No. 5 and first-year August Krahn (2-1) at No. 6 are all seeded third in their respective singles draws. Ong is the team leader in singles wins with a 16-10 overall mark.
 
Ong and Smock (1-0) will pair at No. 2 doubles, while Holyoake and Krahn (3-1) are at No. 3 doubles. Both teams are seeded third.