Men's Tennis Drops NCAA First-Round Match To VCU, 4-3

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The first-ever trip to the NCAA Team Championship for the University of Pennsylvania men's tennis team ended with a down-to-the-wire, 4-3 loss at the hands of VCU Friday afternoon.

In doubles play, Penn dropped the first match of the day, but rebounded to pick up the early point on the strength of a pair of 7-6 wins by the teams of Edoardo Graziani/Kevin Zhu and Aditya Gupta/Harsh Parikh.

The singles matches wound up as close as doubles action did, with four of the six matches going to three sets. After VCU picked up its first point to knot things at one, Graziani picked up a straight-set win from the #1 spot to put Penn back in front, 2-1. The Rams again tied the match, but Zhu put the Quakers back in front, 3-2 just seconds later with a three-set win at #4. That left Penn just one win from clinching the match, but the Rams answered with a pair of three set-wins to close out the match and advance to the second round.

Penn's remarkable season ends with a program-record 19 dual-match victories. Graziani will return to the court for the Individual Singles and Doubles Championships at the University of Illinois at the end of the month, following the conclusion of the Team Championships.

FINAL RESULTS - VCU 4, Penn 3
Doubles
1. Edoardo Graziani/Kevin Zhu (P) def. Charles Bertimon/Maxence Bertimon (VCU) 6-2
2. Inigo Torre Martin/Rayane Stable (VCU) def. Jason Hildebrandt/Zachery Lim (P) 6-3
3. Aditya Gupta/Harsh Parikh (P) def. Joaquim Almeida/Matisse Bobichon (VCU) 7-6
Singles
1. Edoardo Graziani (P) def. Charles Bertimon (VCU) 6-4, 7-6
2. Maxence Bertimon (VCU) def. Jason Hildebrandt (P) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
3. Inigo Torre Martin (VCU) def. Aditya Gupta (P) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
4. Kevin Zhu (P) def. Matisse Bobichon (VCU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
5. Rayane Stable (VCU) def. Harsh Parikh (P) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
6. Joaquim Almeida (VCU) def. Baylor Sai (P) 6-0, 6-1

#FightOnPenn

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Players Mentioned

Aditya Gupta: 5' 9"; Junior

Jason Hildebrandt: 6' 1"; Senior

Harsh Parikh: 6' 0"; Junior

Edoardo Graziani: 5' 11"; Junior

Kevin Zhu: 5' 11"; Junior

Zachery Lim: 6' 1"; Freshman

Baylor Sai: 6' 0"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Aditya Gupta
: 5' 9"; Junior

Jason Hildebrandt
: 6' 1"; Senior

Harsh Parikh
: 6' 0"; Junior

Edoardo Graziani
: 5' 11"; Junior

Kevin Zhu
: 5' 11"; Junior

Zachery Lim
: 6' 1"; Freshman

Baylor Sai
: 6' 0"; Freshman