HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College men's tennis program enters the Centennial Conference Tournament for the fourth time in the last five years and takes on host Swarthmore College in the semifinal round on Saturday, May 3 at 1 p.m.
The Fords (11-5, 7-2 CC) climbed to the No. 11 position in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Atlantic South regional rankings after concluding the year on a 7-2 run. Haverford outscored its opponents by 22 team points during that stretch (51-29) and enters the conference tournament as the third seed.
The Garnet (11-7, 8-1) sit in the sixth spot in the ITA regional rankings and closed out the year by winning their final three matches. Swarthmore captured the second seed with last Saturday's win over the Fords and earned the right to host the semifinal matchup between the two rivals.
"We are looking to go back to Swarthmore and play better," commented head men's tennis coach Sean Sloane. "We have the opportunity to script and strategize since we are facing them for a second time in the span of a week and I know that we have the ability to win."
Haverford is led by a core group of seniors. Captain Matt Romei highlights four different seniors who have contributed significantly throughout the spring. The veterans on the team are going to the league semifinals for the third time in their careers and Sloane hopes that experience will pay off.
"There are a lot of seniors and veteran players on our team," continued Sloane. "None of them will be awed by the occasion."
In the loss to the Garnet less than a week ago, Haverford received commanding play from its top doubles team of Luis Acaba and Jacob Youse. The pair outlasted Swarthmore's No. 1 doubles team 9-8 (7-4) and will attempt to pick up another point in doubles action again for the Fords on Saturday.
Singles action did not go as smoothly for Haverford in the regular season meeting between these two programs. Several Fords battled to close decisions in that matchup and the men's tennis team hopes to pull out those close contests and come away with the upset of the second seed.
Haverford and Swarthmore will square off on Saturday, May 3 at 1 p.m. at the Faulkner Courts. The winner will advance to face the winner of the other semifinal match between No. 1 Johns Hopkins University and No. 4 Franklin & Marshall College. The championship match will be held at Johns Hopkins at 3 p.m., regardless of the outcome in the Blue Jays' semifinal match. For more information on the men's tennis Centennial Conference Championships click here.