HAVERFORD, Pa. – It was a busy day, but a productive day, for the Haverford College men's tennis team on Saturday. Playing in two different locations at the same time, the Fords (8-1, 2-0 CC) came away with an 8-1 conference win on the road against McDaniel. On the home front, Haverford was a 7-2 winner against Rutgers-Camden.
Haverford 8, McDaniel 1
The Fords did not drop a game in opening up an impressive 3-0 lead over the Green Terror after doubles. The new pairings in the lineup seemed to have little effect on the Fords as they won each of the three positions by 8-0 scores. In the No. 1 slot, Luis Acaba was joined by Josh Moskovitz. Ishaan Prinz and Benjamin Soloway filled the No. 2 position, while Jason Hirsch and Chris Nagele were the winners at No. 3 doubles.
In singles competition, Acaba capped his day with a win at No. 1 singles. The Fords' senior captain was a 6-1, 6-1 winner in the top slot. Caleb Mayer entered the lineup at No. 2 singles and allowed just one game in the opening set during his win. The Green Terror got their lone win of the afternoon at No. 3 singles as Nagele was edged out in a 10-point tiebreak after forcing the extra set with a 6-4 win in the second.
With the match decided, the two sides played eight-game pro sets to decide Nos. 4 through 6 singles. Benjamin Horwitz joined the lineup at No. 5 singles and rolled to an 8-0 win. Hirsch helped bring in his second team point of the afternoon with an 8-4 win at No. 4 singles. John Homan won by that same score at No. 6 singles.
Haverford 7, Rutgers-Camden 2
Doubles pairings were also mixed up at home, but again this proved to be a minor detail for the Fords who also jumped out in front 3-0 after doubles. Dais Nakayama and Harrison Elbert blanked their opponents at No. 1 singles, while Keisuke Sawada and Nick Sweeney were 8-3 winners. The Fords' tightest doubles match of the afternoon came at No. 3. In that match, Matthew Buczek and Andrew Linden prevailed by a 7-4 score in the tiebreak.
The Fords had four players from doubles return to the courts for singles action and came away with wins in three of those matches. Sawada blanked his opponent in both sets to notch the win at No. 3 singles. Sweeney allowed just two games in his first set and cruised to a 6-0 second set for the win at No. 2. New to this lineup for singles was Zack Mason. Mason won his match in the No. 1 position by identical 6-1 set scores.
Buczek was the third Haverford player to record two victories in this match as he came through in a hard-fought win. Like his doubles match, Buczek emerged a 7-4 winner after the tiebreak to start his match. He then won 10-4 during his 10-point tiebreak to seal the victory. A 12-10 tiebreak went the way of Rutgers-Camden at No. 5 singles, while the Raptors also claimed the win at No. 6.
Men's tennis will next travel to Washington College this Wednesday for a 4 p.m. match. The team will be back at home next Saturday against Dickinson.