HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's tennis team set up a showdown for at least a share of the Centennial Conference's regular season title with a 6-3 win over Ursinus on Tuesday evening. The Fords (13-2, 7-1 CC) took all three doubles matches and three more straight set victories in singles to deny the Bears (11-7, 3-5 CC).
A change in location to the indoor courts with lightning in the area just a couple minutes into doubles competition did nothing to break the Fords' concentration early on. Haverford had a pair of 8-4 victories to record its first team points of the evening. In the No. 1 position, Luis Acaba and Harrison Elbert doubled up their opponents by that margin. Haverford's co-captains are now 9-2 together in doubles, including a 4-1 mark in conference play.
Ishaan Prinz and Eli Phelps were also victorious by an 8-4 margin in the No. 3 doubles position. That pairing is now 4-3 together this spring. The tightest match of doubles came in the middle pairing where Dais Nakayama and Josh Moskovitz were 8-6 winners. The Fords' No. 2 pairing is now 4-2 in conference matches.
Changing over to singles, Haverford quickly clinched the match with a pair of straight set victories in the first wave of matches to hit the courts. Elbert, the reigning Centennial Conference Player of the Week, won his opening set at No. 3 by a 6-4 score, and did not drop a game in the second to record his 10th singles win of the season. Prinz also recorded his 10th win of the season tonight. He notched his win with a 6-3, 6-4 score at No. 4 singles.
After the Fords had clinched the team score with their fifth point of the evening, the visiting Bears tightened the final team score on the strength of three 10-point tiebreak victories. At No. 1 singles, Moskovitz saw his team-best 11 match winning streak and undefeated spring season come to a close in his second match at the top position. Nakayama and Zack Mason also dropped hard-fought 10-point tiebreak decisions.
The Fords' final team point of the evening came from Phelps. Phelps conceded just four games in total throughout the night during a 6-1, 6-3 win. The Fords' sophomore is now 5-1 in singles, including a 3-1 record against conference opposition.
Men's tennis will now travel to rival Swarthmore this Saturday with a chance to deadlock the top of the conference standings on the final day of the regular season. A win would force a three-way tie for the regular season title. That match is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m.