CARLISLE, Pa. – The Haverford College men's tennis team, ranked No. 15 in the Atlantic South Region, could not recover from an early deficit in doubles Saturday afternoon at Dickinson, falling 6-3 to the host Red Devils (3-3, 1-1 CC). The Fords (5-3, 3-1 CC) evenly split the singles matches, but the 3-0 hole from doubles proved too large to overcome in Haverford's first conference loss of the season.

Dickinson jumped out in front with a strong showing in doubles. The Fords mounted a challenge to their opponents, specifically at the top two positions, but went unrewarded in the team score. The closest doubles match came at No. 1 where Luis Acaba and Harrison Elbert dropped an 8-6 match. The Red Devils took the second doubles score by an 8-5 margin and were victorious by an 8-2 score at the third doubles match.

Haverford attempted to mount a comeback in singles and got its first point at No. 2. In that position, Dais Nakayama found himself down locked in a tight 3-2 match in the opening set. However, his opponent was forced to retire, giving Haverford its first point of the afternoon.

The Fords' also got straight sets wins from Acaba and Elbert at No. 1 and No. 4 singles, respectively. In the top singles match, Acaba allowed the Red Devils' top player just four games. He finished off the victory with a 6-1 win in the second set. Elbert conceded just three games at No. 4 singles. His match included a 6-1 opening set victory.

Haverford was also right in the No. 3 singles match as Zack Mason came up on the wrong side of a 7-3 tiebreak in his first set. He then dropped a hard-fought 6-4 second set. Ishaan Prinz also battled his opponent to a 6-4 loss in his opening set at No. 5 singles.

Men's tennis will now return home for three matches this week. The week opens up Monday with the University of the Sciences making the trip to campus at 4 p.m. Muhlenberg will make that same 4 p.m. trip on Wednesday, while No. 10 Johns Hopkins visits Haverford on Saturday at noon to complete a busy week on the courts.