HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's tennis team has made the Centennial Conference Tournament in 10 of the last 11 seasons, but will need some new faces to step up this year if the Fords are to continue that trend. However, the merging of returning leadership with the incoming class during the fall has the Fords ranked No. 11 in the Atlantic South Regional as the spring season approaches.
Haverford lost three players from its regular lineup last year, including four-time All-Centennial Conference selection Luis Acaba. Acaba was a three-time first-team All-CC performer in singles after earning second-team and rookie of the year honors as a freshman. Harrison Elbert teamed with Acaba at No. 1 doubles where the Fords' No. 1 duo earned first-team All-Centennial Conference honors during the past two seasons. Zack Mason, who went 11-4 in singles last year, also graduated as a member of that talented senior class.
Nevertheless, the Fords have many capable returning players who are looking to step up to the challenge in 2017. Now a sophomore, Josh Moskovitz won his first 11 singles matches last spring and eventually moved all the way up to No. 1 singles for two matches. During a decorated freshman season, Moskovitz was named the Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year, a first-team All-CC performer in singles, and a second-team All-CC performer in doubles.
Moskovitz was paired with Dais Nakayama in doubles play for much of the spring season. Nakayama, a fellow second-team All-CC doubles performer, enters his junior season as one of the Fords' four captains. Nakayama primarily saw action at No. 2 singles, but did play four matches at No. 1 as he earned honorable mention all-conference accolades last year to follow up his second-team recognition in singles as a freshman.
Junior Ishaan Prinz will also serve as a co-captain this season. Prinz was one of four players who won at least 10 singles matches last year. He played primarily in the No. 5 spot of the lineup, but also saw frequent time at No. 4 singles with his highest ranked match coming at No. 2. Prinz filled the No. 3 doubles spot with the combination of Eli Phelps and Nick Sweeney.
Phelps also saw time in the singles lineup where he boasted an impressive 5-1 record with three Centennial Conference wins. That loss was his only singles defeat during his first two seasons. Seniors Keisuke Sawada and Benjamin Horwitz are also captains for Haverford this spring. Sawada went a combined 5-0 between singles and doubles last spring, while Horwitz won his only singles match against McDaniel.
In addition to the returners on the team, several freshmen made their collegiate debuts at the ITA Regional during the fall. Kevin Yan was entered in the championship singles draw where he won one match. Yan was also paired with classmate David Kong in the championship doubles tournament. Rob Kresch and Arnav Patodia made the most of their first experience playing together, advancing all the way to the championship match of the Blue 1 doubles draw, while Raja Arul also won a match in Blue 2 singles action.
The Fords have put together a challenging schedule for the 2017 season with six teams currently ranked in the top 40 nationally on the slate. The first two of those opponents will serve as the season opener with the Fords set to battle No. 24 Whitman and No. 28 Christopher Newport this Saturday, February 18 as part of the Swarthmore Invitational. No. 39 TCNJ (Mar. 4), No. 36 Kalamazoo (Mar. 22), No. 16 Johns Hopkins (Apr. 15), and No. 26 Swarthmore (Apr. 25) will also give the Fords plenty of chances to test their skill against the nation's top teams.
Haverford went 13-4 last year for the team's most victories since the 2007 season. Haverford's success is part of a program-record five year stretch during which the Fords have won at least 11 duals as a team. During the extended run of postseason success, Haverford has made it to at least the Centennial Conference semifinals in each of its 10 playoff appearances. The team will be in search of an appearance in the championship match for the first time since the 2013 season.