MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's men's tennis team locked up a spot in the Midwest Conference Tournament by sweeping the final two dual meets of the regular season Saturday inside the Small Sport Center.
 
Coach Trent Schneider's Rams determined their postseason fate with decisive wins over Illinois College, 7-2, and Monmouth, 9-0.
 
Cornell (9-12 overall) finished fourth in the MWC standings at 3-3. The Rams earned the No. 4 seed in the MWC Team Tournament and will face top-seeded Grinnell (11-11 overall, 6-0 MWC) in a semifinal Friday in Middleton, Wis.
 
The Rams recorded their second 9-0 shutout of the season in the Monmouth dual. No. 1 doubles pair Alexander Hadler-Strumlauf and Justin Mendez won 8-3. Cornell prevailed by 8-6 scores at No. 2 (Chris Penas-Hull/Edwin Holyoake) and No. 3 (Orion Mason/Ravi Parekh).
 
Cornell took all six singles matches in straight sets with a lineup of Hadler-Strumlauf (6-3, 6-3), Penas-Hull (6-2, 6-0), Mendez (6-1, 6-1), Bryce Fincher (6-0, 6-4), Holyoake (6-1, 6-4) and Mason (6-2, 6-1).
 
Against Illinois College, the Rams built a 2-1 lead with doubles wins from Hadler-Strumlauf and Mendez (8-2) at No. 1 and Penas-Hull and Holyoake (8-1) at No. 2.
 
Hadler-Strumlauf (6-0, 6-1), Penas-Hull (6-3, 6-2), Mendez (6-1, 6-0), Holyoake (6-1, 6-0) and Mason (6-4, 6-3) were victorious in singles play.