The men’s tennis team wrapped up its fall season with an impressive performance at the Dartmouth Invitational this past weekend, highlighted by multiple singles wins and an undefeated doubles slate.
Three Cornell competitors, sophomore Rushil Khosla, freshman Jack Casciato and freshman Nathan Gold, made the trip to Hanover, New Hampshire, and all delivered impressive results. Each player finished with a 2–1 singles record against a competitive field featuring Yale University, Dartmouth University, Boston University and Williams College.
Casciato and Gold, who are also roommates, teamed up in doubles and went unbeaten in their three matches. The freshmen defeated pairs from Boston University, Dartmouth and Yale — all by identical 6–4 scores — to complete a spotless doubles campaign.
Casciato said that steady serving and tactical adjustments made the difference for him in singles over the weekend.
“I thought I served really well in the first match, was intentional about what we’ve been practicing for the last week or so,” Casciato said. “In the second match, I was too impatient with coming to the net, played too aggressively, [and] didn’t serve well. In the third match, I bounced back and made [the] adjustment of being a little more patient with coming to the net and having a higher first serve percentage.”
Head coach Silviu Tanasoiu agreed with his player’s assessment.
“I thought Jack played some really good tennis [in] the first and the last match,” Tanasoiu said, “but some things that need to be improved for the second one.”
Now in his 14th season at the helm, Tanasoiu said the weekend provided valuable insights into the team’s development. He praised the freshman duo’s performance in doubles while noting areas for continued growth.
“It was good to see the guys perform in doubles the way that they did. Jack [Casciato] and Nathan [Gold], I thought they did really well,” Tanasoiu said. “[They] won all three of their matches as freshmen — they beat a team from Yale [and] a team from Dartmouth. It’s encouraging.”
The Dartmouth Invitational marked Cornell’s final event of the fall semester. The dual-match season begins in January, but several team members are set to compete at the upcoming ITA championship events next weekend in San Diego.
Tanasoiu said he’s looking forward to seeing how his group performs on the West Coast.
“It’s encouraging to see a team that played for the first time together in this event,” Tanasoiu said. “It’s a good opportunity for them, it’s a chance to make the NCAAs. The most important thing for us is adjustments. We are going from indoors to outdoors and East Coast to West Coast. It’s about adjusting to time zones, adjusting to playing outside and being ready.”
Austin Curtis is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a Sun Staff Writer and can be reached at acurtis@cornellsun.com.
