LA MIRANDA, Calif. – Faced with a 2-1 deficit after doubles, the Haverford College men's tennis team came roaring back and swept all six singles matches against Wheaton (Mass.) to claim a 7-2 victory on Thursday evening. That match came after the Fords dropped an 8-1 decision against No. 32 Rochester to start its day of doubleheader action.
The newly-former No. 1 pairing of Josh Moskovitz and George Jiang picked up the win in doubles against Wheaton by an 8-2 score. However, the Lyons claimed No. 2 and No. 3 doubles by winning hard-fought 8-6 battles in both of those positions to claim the early edge on the scoreboard.
When the play switched over to singles, the Fords found another level of intensity as five of their six singles wins came in straight sets. Kevin Yan allowed just one game to his opponent at the No. 2 position, while Nick Sweeney (No. 5 singles) and Arnav Patodia (No. 6 singles) each allowed just two games to their respective opponents of the course of their matches.
Pranav Krishnan, playing No. 4 singles, came away with a tough 6-4 first set win before cruising in the second to a 6-2 victory. At the top of the lineup, Josh Moskovitz was a double winner in the team's victory as he too emerged with a 6-4 first set decision. Moskovitz backed that up by winning the second set 6-3.
George Jiang, who had won at No. 1 doubles earlier against Wheaton, came out on the wrong side of a 6-4 opening set at No. 3 singles. Nevertheless, he quickly rebounded with 6-2 and 6-0 set wins in succession to put an exclamation point on the Haverford's strong comeback. Jiang also accounted for Haverford's team point in the match against Rochester as he picked up another three-set victory in that match, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Men's tennis will wrap up its week of competition in Florida with its fifth match in four days on Friday. The Fords are set to battle Occidental in a match that is slated for 10 a.m. local time (1 p.m. EST).