MOUNT VERNON – The Cornell men's tennis team continued their fall season, hosting the Cornell Invitational. Among the four teams, Loras College, Central College, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and our own Rams, a total of 72 matches were played across 6 flights were played both on Cornell's campus, and at nearby Mount Vernon High School.
 
Junior Zach Ong and sophomore Mills Arnold paced the Rams both collecting 3-1 records individually on the day. 
 
At Cornell, sophomores Trent Devore and Mills Arnold started the day with a 6-3 victory in doubles over Loras, followed by two losses in singles matches, Arnold going 4-6, 5-7 and Devore losing a tight 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-10 singles bout. Freshman Drew Campbell and junior Zachary Ong finished their doubles with a 6-4 score, and Ong continued his first round with a 1-6, 6-4, 10-3 victory in singles. Campbell fell in his match, 2-6, 3-6.
 
In flights E and F, the Rams battled tough in the first round, with Freshmen Eric Dirksmeyer, Benett Gregor and JJ White getting their first collegiate starts. Dirksmeyer lost 0-6, 2-6, Gregor lost 1-6, 2-6 and White lost 1-6, 2-6 as well. Senior Lincoln Rener also fell 3-6, 1-6. The pair of Gregor and Dirksmeyer fell 1-6, White and Rener also fell 3-6, both to Loras.
 
Round 2 was more successful for the Rams, with a 4-2 overall score in the outdoor matches. Devore and Arnold finished their second doubles match 6-4, and Ong had a swift victory in his second singles of the day, 6-3, 6-2. Devore fell in another close match 5-7, 3-6. The pair of Ong and Campbell fell 4-6 to Loras, but Campbell pulled out a singles match 6-2, 3-1 (ret.), and Arnold finished his day with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Loras to finish the invitational. 
 
Both Dirksmeyer and Rener fell in tight tiebreakers, 4-6, 6-3, 6-10 for Dirksmeyer and 3-6, 6-1, 8-10 for Rener. Gregor pulled out a close match of 6-7(6), 6-2, 10-7, also in a tiebreaker and White finished with a 7-6(2), 6-1 victory. Dirksmeyer and Gregor fell 2-6 in doubles while White and Rener pulled out a 6-4 victory, both against the Dutch.
 
At Mount Vernon High School, the Rams competed tough in tight matches, with three of the matches heading into a third set tiebreaker. In the first round, freshman Sam Cumicek and senior Edwin Holyoake lost singles matches to University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 0-6, 1-6 and 0-6, 0-6 respectively. Cumicek and junior August Krahn also fell against the Pointers in a doubles match, 1-6. While flight C was playing, the Rams in flight D also fell, this time to Central, in which sophomore Evan Davis fell in a singles match 1-6, 3-6 and Krahn lost a close tiebreaker 3-6, 6-1, 6-10. Davis and Holyoake fell in their doubles match 3-6.
 
In the afternoon, Cumicek and Holyoake lost singles to the Dutch, 0-6, 1-6 and the pair of Cumicek and Krahn lost in a 2-6 doubles match. Davis and Krahn both had close match singles losses to Loras, Davis falling 4-6, 6-3, 6-10 and Krahn losing 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-10. Davis and Holyoake also lost 4-6.
 
Coming up – The team will play in Davenport, IA, next week for an exhibition against the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees. First serve will be at 10:00 AM.