Men's Tennis Handles Ursinus, 9-0

Men's Tennis Handles Ursinus, 9-0

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Playing its final road match of the regular season, the Haverford College men's tennis team showed balance up and down the lineup with its first 9-0 victory of the spring season. The Fords (9-4, 6-2 CC) kept pace for third place in the conference with their latest victory against Ursinus (10-9, 2-6 CC). The win also maintained just a one match deficit behind rival Swarthmore with the team's Hood Trophy clash coming this Saturday.

The Fords got off to a quick start with a strong showing in doubles. Both the Fords' No. 2 and No. 3 pairings started the day with 8-5 wins. At No. 2 doubles, it was Dais Nakayama and Ishaan Prinz that picked up their fifth victory together this spring. In the third doubles slot, Eli Phelps and Benjamin Soloway recorded their third win together in five matches during the conference schedule.

Haverford made it a clean sweep in doubles with a 9-7 win at the top doubles position. The Fords' top duo of Luis Acaba and Harrison Elbert notched the hard-fought victory, improving to 7-2 overall during the spring. Their latest victory makes them 6-1 at No. 1 doubles during the Centennial Conference schedule.

Moving over to singles, the Fords clinched the match with three straight set victories among the top four matches to hit the courts in the first wave of action. Acaba was one of four double winners between singles and doubles for the Fords. He won his match at No. 1 singles by a 6-3, 7-5 score for his seventh win of the spring. Acaba is now 5-1 in Centennial Conference singles matches this year. Zack Mason also recorded his seventh win of the spring at No. 3 singles with the most convincing victory of the evening, 6-3, 6-1.

Elbert won his opening set with seven of the nine tiebreak points before capturing his match at No. 4 singles with a 6-2 second set. With the match already decided, Nakayama played a 10-point tiebreak after splitting his first two sets. After winning the first set by a 7-5 score, he bounced back from a tough second set with a 10-8 win in the tiebreak. Both Nakayama and Elbert now have nine wins in singles after Wednesday's victories.

The final two matches to hit the court both played eight-game pro sets with the team score decided. Prinz was an 8-2 winner in his match at No. 5 singles, while Caleb Mayer took down his opponent by an 8-5 advantage. Prinz now has a team-leading 10 singles victories on the year. Mayer joined Acaba and Mason with his seventh singles win Wednesday evening.

Men's tennis will close out the Centennial Conference schedule at home Saturday against No. 27 Swarthmore. That match with the rival Garnet is scheduled for a noon start.