LANCASTER, Pa. – The Haverford College men's tennis team upended regionally-ranked Franklin & Marshall Saturday afternoon in a 6-3 Centennial Conference battle. The Fords (8-4, 5-2 CC) got the early edge by winning two of the three doubles points. Haverford then claimed four of the six singles matches against the Diplomats (6-7, 4-3 CC). Franklin & Marshall entered the match ranked No. 12 in the ITA's Atlantic South Region rankings.
Both of Haverford's doubles victories came with the Fords' duo doubling up on their Diplomat opponents. At the top doubles pairing, Luis Acaba and Harrison Elbert were 8-4 victors. Playing the No. 3 doubles position, Eli Phelps and Benjamin Soloway came away with a win by that same margin. Haverford did see the 8-4 score turned against them at No. 2 doubles.
Helping to seal the match in singles play was Acaba taking down the No. 20 player in the region, Doug Kaplan. Playing No. 1 singles, Acaba pulled through with a straight set victory against his regionally-ranked adversary. He took his match by a 6-4, 6-2 final.
Dais Nakayama and Ishaan Prinz both bounced back nicely from a tough doubles defeat to pick up critical points at No. 2 and No. 5 singles. Prinz allowed just one game in each of his sets during the No. 5 singles match. Nakayama needed extra points in his first set, but took the opening tiebreak by a 9-7 margin. He used a 6-3 second set win to complete his straight set victory.
The Fords put a bonus victory in play when Caleb Mayer pulled through at No. 6 singles. Mayer started strong with a 6-1 opening set win. However, his opponent rallied back with a 6-0 victory during the second, forcing a decisive third set. Mayer took down that third set victory for the team's sixth point of the day.
Zack Mason nearly came up with a seventh win on the day for the Fords. In a hard-fought match all the way, Mason lost his opening set, 6-4, but came back with a 7-5 victory in the second set. With the team score already decided, a 10-8 tiebreak went the way of Franklin & Marshall. The Diplomats also secured a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles on the afternoon.
Men's tennis will be back on the road Wednesday for the quick trip over to Ursinus. That Centennial Conference clash is set for 4 p.m.