LANCASTER, Pa. – The Haverford College men's tennis team defeated another unbeaten Centennial Conference opponent with a 7-2 victory at Franklin & Marshall on Saturday. The Fords (8-4, 4-0 CC) are now one of just three remaining unbeaten teams in Centennial Conference action following their win over the Diplomats (5-5, 3-1 CC). Haverford entered this match-up as the No. 12 team in the Atlantic South Region while Franklin & Marshall was ranked 16th.
The Fords won the top two doubles matches to take an early advantage. The No. 1 pairing of Josh Moskovitz and David Kong won by an 8-5 score. Haverford's top duo is now 5-3 this year with a 2-0 record against conference foes. The No. 2 pairing of Dais Nakayama and Kevin Yan doubled up its opposition by an 8-4 score and improved to 6-2 together in its usual spot in the lineup.
Franklin & Marshall salvaged its only point of the doubles competition in a tiebreak, coming out on top by a 9-8 score. Pranav Krishnan and Ishaan Prinz played No. 3 doubles and evenly split the first 16 games before falling in the tiebreak. Haverford is now 24-12 in doubles this spring with an impressive 11-1 record against Centennial Conference opponents.
Although the Fords won five of the six singles matches to clinch the team's eighth victory of the year, there were a number of tight battles up and down the lineup. Josh Moskovitz (No. 1 singles) and Pranav Krishnan (No. 6 singles) were straight-set winners. Moskovitz, ranked No. 16 in the Atlantic South Region, won by a 6-1, 6-4 score to improve to 5-4 in the top singles match this spring. Krishnan was victorious by a 6-2, 6-1 score, earning his fourth victory of the spring.
Dais Nakayama also won No. 5 singles in straight sets, but needed to come through with a first set tiebreak to do so. He won his opening tiebreak by a 7-4 score before rolling to a 6-3 win in the second. His victory was the co-captain's fourth this year.
Three matches went to decisive 10-point tiebreaks. At No. 2 singles, Kevin Yan rallied from being a set down with a 6-4 win during the second. Yan then edged out his opponent by an 11-9 tiebreak score for his sixth win, improving to 3-0 in CC singles matches. David Kong improved his record to 13-1 (3-0 CC) with a 10-point tiebreak at No. 4 singles. Kong was up a set early with a 6-3 win. A 7-5 setback did not deter him as he came right back to take the 10-point tiebreak. F&M's only win in singles came at No. 3 where Ishaan Prinz was up a set after winning a tiebreak. A hard-fought 6-4 second set fell to his opponent before the Diplomat secured the No. 3 match in the final tiebreaker.
Men's tennis will next travel to Ursinus this coming Tuesday with first serves in that match slated for 4 p.m. in Collegeville. Another unbeaten conference team awaits the Fords next weekend as No. 17 Johns Hopkins comes to Haverford for an 11 a.m. start.