COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of Pennsylvania men's tennis team went toe-for-toe with Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) Sunday afternoon in the ITA Kickoff Weekend finale, eventually falling, 4-3.

The #7 doubles team of Edoardo Graziani and Kevin Zhu picked up a win over the #29-ranked team of Matisse Bobichon and Rayane Stable, but the Rams came away with the early point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3.

In singles play, Zhu won in straight sets at No. 2 to even the match at one. After VCU won at No. 6 and No. 4 to go up 3-1, Manfredi Graziani closed out a three-set win at No. 5 to pull Penn back within one at 3-2, and Edoardo Grazani rallied after dropping the first set in his match at No. 1 to level the match at three.

In the day's final, winner-take-all match, VCU picked up a three-set victory at No. 3. In all, five singles matches went three sets, with the Rams coming out victorious in three of them.

Up Next
Penn returns home for a 12 p.m. match with Navy on Friday, February 3. The Quakers have won 20 straight against the Midshipmen, dating back to 2000.

DOUBLES
1 – #7 E. Graziani/Zhu (P) def. #29 Matisse Bobichon/Rayane Stable (VCU)  6-4
2 – Charles Bertimon/Maxence Bertimon (VCU) def. M. Graziani/Kian Vakili (P)  6-4
3 – Joaquim De Almeida/Romain Gales (VCU) def. Aditya Gupta/Harsh Parikh (P)  7-5

SINGLES
1 –#48 E. Graziani (P) def. #40 Matisse Bobichon (VCU)  3-6, 6-1, 6-4
2 – Zhu (P) def. Charles Bertimon (VCU)  6-4, 6-3
3 – Maxence Bertimon (VCU) def. Gupta (P)  2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2
4 – Rayane Stable (VCU) def. Parikh (P)  4-6, 6-2, 6-3
5 – M. Graziani (P) def. Joaquim De Almeida (VCU)  6-3, 3-6, 6-2
6 – Romain Gales (VCU) def. Baylor Sai (P)  3-6, 6-0, 6-2
 
Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2); Singles (2, 6, 4, 1, 5, 3)