HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's tennis team will open up the Centennial Conference Tournament this Saturday at Swarthmore. The second-seeded Garnet (11-11, 8-1 CC) and third-seeded Fords (10-8, 7-2 CC) will start their semifinal matchup at 11 a.m. Swarthmore won the regular season meeting between these schools by a 6-3 score.
The Fords are making their 11th appearance in the Centennial Conference semifinals during the past 12 years. This includes each of the last seven years. With a win on Saturday, Haverford would advance to the Centennial Conference Tournament championship match for the fourth time in program history and the first since the 2013 season.
In doubles, Haverford has won nearly 75 percent of its matchups during Centennial Conference action. The Fords are 12-6 at No. 2 doubles this spring and won that match behind an 8-6 score from Raja Arul and David Kong during the regular season contest between these schools. Kong and Arul are 6-1 as a team this spring, including a 4-1 mark in conference matches. Haverford is 13-5 this spring at No. 3 doubles. The pairing of Eli Phelps and Nick Sweeney dropped an 8-4 match in the first meeting.
Also seeing substantial playing time at No. 3 doubles were Rob Kresch and Arnav Patodia. That pairing is 9-1 this spring with a perfect 4-0 record in conference doubles. Josh Moskovitz and Dais Nakayama have formed the Fords' No. 1 doubles team for the entire spring season. That pairing is 8-8 overall with a 5-3 record against conference foes. They were downed by an 8-5 score against the No. 20 pairing in the ITA national rankings back in April.
Eli Phelps is currently leading the Fords with 12 wins in singles. He joined Kevin Yan as Haverford's two victors in singles against the Garnet. Phelps won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, against his Swarthmore opponent and has seen the majority of his playing time come at No. 4 singles. He went 6-1 in conference matches during the regular season and has won three straight entering the postseason. Yan went 5-1 in conference singles matches and recorded nine wins on the year. He has won four straight matches playing No. 3 singles.
Ishaan Prinz and Josh Moskovitz have also eclipsed the 10 win mark in singles. Co-captain Prinz, playing primarily at No. 5 singles, has totaled 11 wins on the year. He dropped a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 match against the Garnet during the regular season, but it was one of just two conference defeats he suffered in the spring as he rolled to five CC victories. Moskovitz also won five conference matches at No. 1 singles. The No. 18 player in the ITA's Atlantic South Regional Rankings has a total of 10 wins this year.
Dais Nakayama has filled the No. 2 singles spot in the lineup for the Fords. The junior co-captain has seven wins to his credit this season and is a two-time All-Centennial Conference performer already. Raja Arul has been slotted for No. 6 singles in the majority of Haverford's matches. Arul is 4-3 in conference clashes with eight wins overall in singles.
With a win on Saturday, Haverford would advance to the Centennial Conference Championship match on Sunday with the highest remaining seed hosting that championship dual match. Johns Hopkins enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed on the men's side.