RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's mem's tennis team split a pair of matches Saturday afternoon, losing to Grinnell College 9-0, before defeating Cornell by a 6-3 margin. That keeps the Red Hawks in second place in the Midwest Conference standings with just one conference match to play this season.

The Red Hawks' first match of the day came against their toughest opponent all season, as Grinnell (8-9, 3-0 MWC) entered the day ranked 19th in the region. The victory marked Grinnell's 167th conference win in a row, dating back to 2003. That marked Ripon's first conference loss of the year.

Ripon (7-7, 4-1 MWC) rebounded in their second match of the day, winning four of their six singles matches against Cornell (7-12, 1-3 MWC), while also taking two of the three doubles matches.

The number two doubles team of Ty Rondestvedt and Jaden Francis won their match 8-4, while Calvin Battle and Eugene Pliska teamed up to win 8-1 at number three doubles. In singles play, Battle won at the number two flight with ease, 6-1, 6-0, while Marcus Austin blanked his opponent at the number four flight, 6-0, 6-0. Rondestvedt and Francis were also victorious at the number five ad six flights, respectively, by identical 6-0, 6-2 scores.

Ripon will be in action again on Wednesday in a non-conference match against St. Scholastica, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. in Ripon.