NEW HAVEN, CT - Philadelphia University and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia are set to square off for the first-ever Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men’s Tennis Championship Thursday at 3:00 pm at Chestnut Hill College. The CACC is sponsoring men’s tennis for the first time this season. The Rams and Devils each won their semi-final contests on Tuesday to earn a spot in the title match. Philadelphia defeated No. 4 Bloomfield College, 5-0, while USP upended No. 3 Chestnut Hill College, 5-1.

The Rams, the top seed in the tournament, got three 8-0 wins in doubles to start the action against the Deacons. The #2 team of sophomores Tom McAvoy and Seppi Hutter defeated BC's Perez/Wattley, followed by the freshmen #1 team of Adrian Torroella-Cruz and Manoli Sgouros over DeCastro/Gibbs. At No. 3, sophomore Mario Bermeo and freshman Eric Guerrero won against Patel/McCall.

The Rams needed just two more points to secure the win and they did just that after getting singles victories from #2 Sgouros and #4 McAvoy. Each won by a 6-0, 6-0 score.

With the win, the Rams are now 17-7 overall after finishing the conference regular-season with a perfect 10-0 mark. Bloomfield went 3-7 in the CACC and 3-9 overall.

No. 2 USP earned a spot in the championship match with a 5-1 triumph over No. 3 Chestnut Hill. Like Philadelphia, the Devils opened the action by sweeping the doubles matches. The first doubles team of Francisco Garcia and Billy Fine upended CHC’s Julius Twyman and Steve Hlava, 8-3. The second team of Ricardo Martins and Paul Caceres held on for an 8-6 win over Carson Richter and Adrian Avena, while the No. 3 team of Chris Lukose and Dan Rubin defeated Reese Brown and Albert Council, 8-0.

In singles competition, USP recorded wins at the No. 5 (Lukose) and 6 spots (Ken Connelly) to clinch the victory. Chestnut Hill’s lone point came at No. 3 singles where Richter upended Fine, 6-1, 6-0.

USP is now 11-6 this season after going 8-2 in conference play, while the Griffins drop to 10-10 overall after a 6-4 conference campaign.