HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's tennis team (4-2, 2-0 CC) took two of the three doubles matches and four of the six singles matches against visiting McDaniel on Saturday, taking down the Green Terror by a 6-3 final.
Haverford's day got off to a quick start with victories at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. At the top doubles pairing, Luis Acaba and Harrison Elbert put together the most impressive performance in that round, winning 8-3 and claiming their first victory together this season. At No 2. doubles, Caleb Mayer and Eli Phelps were also first-time victors together after they won their match 8-6. The Green Terror's lone team point in doubles came at No. 3 where Eliot Faust and Joshua Lederman were edged out by an 8-5 score.
Switching over to the singles competition, Haverford's top four singles participants each earned straight set victories to secure the team score in the first wave of matches to hit the courts. Acaba allowed just one game in his match at No. 1 singles. His 6-1, 6-0 victory improved his record to 3-2 on the year. Ishaan Prinz took down his opponent at No. 4 singles with a 6-2, 6-4 win. Prinz is now 6-4 on the year in singles play.
The Fords finished the first round of singles matches with a pair of tiebreak winners in the second sets. At No. 2 singles, Zack Mason went up early with a 6-3 first set win. After being tied at six-all in the second, he took the tiebreak by a 7-5 margin for his third win of the season. Elbert also needed a tiebreak after taking his first set 6-3. His tiebreak went to extra points before he won 10-8 for his fifth victory of the year.
At No. 5 and No. 6 singles, Haverford dropped a pair of hard-fought 10-point tiebreaks. Keisuke Sawada forced a 10-point tiebreak with a 6-4 win in the second set, but fell 10-8 in the tiebreak. Rafi Small responded with a 6-1 win in his second set before being edged out by a 10-6 final in his tiebreak at No. 6.
Men's tennis will be back at home Tuesday for a match at 4 p.m. against Washington College. The Fords will also be in action next Saturday when they travel to Dickinson for a noon match.