PHILADELPHIA- The University of Pennsylvania men's tennis team is headed to the finals of the ECAC indoor championship after defeating Cornell, 4-3, at the Hecht Tennis Center Saturday evening.

The Quakers move to 8-4 and have picked up their third straight win.

Penn secured the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. The duo of #41 Aaron Sandler and Kian Vakili picked up the 6-1 victory at No. 1, then at No. 3, Baylor Sai and Matthew Rutter won 6-3, to give Penn the 1-0 lead.

In singles play, Vakili was the first finisher, with a dominant 6-1 win in the opening set and a 6-3 win in set two at No. 2, to make the score 2-0. The Big Red were able to get on the board with a straight set win at No. 6.

Sandler then gave the lead back to the Quakers with a 6-2, 7-6 win at No. 3. Sai dropped his match in three sets at No. 4, narrowing the lead, 3-2. Cornell was able to tie the match with a win at No. 1 in a three-set battle between Manfredi Graziani and Radu Papoe.

Rutter was hailed the hero at the packed Hecht Tennis Center with a 7-5, 7-6 (8) win at No. 5 to clinch the match and punch Penn's ticket to the ECAC indoor Championship.

The Quakers, who are ranked fourth in the tournament, handed the top ranked Big Red just their second loss in the dual match portion of the season.

Up Next
Penn will take on Princeton in the Championship round of the ECAC tournament at 6 p.m. at the Hecht Tennis Center.

Results

DOUBLES
1. #41 Aaron Sandler/Kian Vakili (P) def. Adit Sinha/Nathan Mao (C) 6-1
2. Parashar Bharadwaj/Manfredi Graziani (P) vs Radu Papoe/Eric Verdes (C) 5-4 DNF
3. Matthew Rutter/Baylor Sai (P) def. Petar Teodorovic/Samuel Paquette (C) 6-3

SINGLES  
1. Radu Papoe (C) def. Manfredi Graziani (P) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
2. Kian Vakili (P) def. Adit Sinha (C) 6-1, 6-3
3. Aaron Sandler (P) def. Bradley Paliska (C) 6-2, 7-6 (2)
4. Petar Teodorovic (C) def. Baylor Sai (P) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
5. Matthew Rutter (P) def. Nathan Mao (C) 7-5, 7-6 (8)
6. Samuel Paquette (C) def. Luka Butera (P) 6-2, 6-2