WHITTIER, Calif. - Haverford College's men's tennis team closed out its spring break swing in California on Thursday evening, falling to host and 27th-ranked Whittier College by a score of 9-0 in non-conference action on the Richard Ettinger Tennis Courts.

Haverford (0-4) opened with strong doubles play against the Poets (4-3) despite dropping each of the three matches.

Kevin Caulfield and Danny Himelstein teamed up at No. 1 for the Fords and challenged the nation's 12th-ranked doubles tandem, David Konstintinov and Julian Seneviratne, before finally giving way, 8-6, to the ranked duo.

At 3-doubles, Luis Acaba and Sloan Millman put together another strong outing for Haverford but fell, 8-6, to Whittier's Bo Brynteson and Matthew Herron. The No. 2 pairing of Matt Romei and Matthew Cebul started strong for the Fords but the Poets' team of Andrew Hansen and Chris Schommer finally pulled away for an 8-4 win.

Caulfield and Romei put forth solid efforts in singles play for Haverford.

At 1-singles, Caulfield locked horns with Seneviratne and fought back from a 6-4 opening-set loss into a tie at 6-6 in the second set. Seneviratne was able to prevail, however, finishing the set and match off by winning the tiebreaker by a 7-3 count.

Romei challenged Schommer in the first set at No. 3, losing 7-5, but the Whittier player was able to pound out a 6-1, second set victory to close out the match.

The Fords will take the long flight home and will have a week of practice before opening the Centennial Conference slate on Saturday, March 23 against visiting Gettysburg College.