HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's tennis team has qualified for the Centennial Conference Tournament in eight of the past nine seasons. This string of postseason appearances includes three trips to the conference championship match with the Fords' most recent appearance in the Centennial Conference final coming during the 2013 season.
Head coach Sean Sloane, currently in his 18th season leading the program, will look for his team to carry on the tradition of postseason appearances in 2015. The Fords open the spring season this weekend as Salisbury comes to campus on Saturday for an 11 a.m. match. After the home opener, Haverford will travel to Puerto Rico over Spring Break for training and a pair of matches against Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and Puerto Rico-Rio Piedros. The regular season schedule includes 15 matches, nine of which will be played on the Fords' home courts.
Junior Luis Acaba returns to the Fords' top spot after winning nine matches last season. He played No. 1 in each match he competed in during the spring, winning six matches in that stretch. Acaba was named the Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year in 2013 and was a first-team All-CC selection in singles to go along with a second-team All-CC pick in doubles last year. He has won 22 matches over his first two seasons at Haverford.
Acaba's classmate, Zack Mason, also spent time at No. 1 singles last spring. Mason won six matches overall with the majority of his play coming at No. 2. Harrison Elbert and Eliot Faust both return after seeing action inside of the top six singles last spring. Elbert won a match at B1 singles during the ITA Regional this fall and was also a champion in the B1 doubles draw.
In addition to five members of the junior class, seven sophomores and eight freshmen will be counted on to fill in the lineup during the spring season. Freshman Dais Nakayama made his Haverford debut with a run to the Championship Singles Draw Round of 16 at the ITA Regional during this past fall before falling in a decisive third set. Ishaan Prinz also experienced great success in the B2 singles draw at the ITA Regional. After dropping his collegiate debut in a 10-point tiebreak, Prinz won the consolation bracket with four straight victories.
"The incoming freshmen have made a major impact on our lineup," stated Sloane. "Eli Phelps will team with Luis Acaba at No. 1 doubles. Dais Nakayama & Ishaan Prinz will play No. 2 doubles. Caleb Mayer is perhaps the steadiest player on the team and will play No. 6 singles. Benjamin Soloway has just rejoined the tennis team after a successful winter season of squash. He will add depth to both singles and doubles as soon as he finds his tennis legs."
Men's tennis has won 11 matches during each of the past three seasons. Another 11-plus win season in 2015 would mark the first time the Fords have strung four such seasons together since the 1991-95 campaigns when Haverford ran off five straight years of 11 or more victories.
Centennial Conference play for the Fords opens up on the road with a trip to Gettysburg on March 21. Haverford's first home conference match of the spring will be the following Saturday against McDaniel (Mar. 28). In addition to the nine conference matches at the end of the schedule, the team will also host the University of the Sciences and Rutgers-Camden during the month of April. The Centennial Conference Tournament is set for April 29, May 2 and May 3 for the top five teams in the regular season standings.