HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's tennis team has released its 2016 spring schedule. Highlighting the Fords' non-conference slate will be the trip to Puerto Rico during Spring Break from March 6 through March 13. The Fords are currently scheduled to host seven home matches during the upcoming spring.
The dual season is set to open on Saturday, March 5 when the College of New Jersey renews its series with Haverford for the first time since the 2012 season. Haverford was a 5-4 winner when these teams last met on the Fords' home courts during the 2011 season. Immediately following that season-opening match, the team will head to Puerto Rico for a week of training and competition with dates yet to be finalized.
When the team returns from the Puerto Rico, it will begin final preparations for Centennial Conference play with the first-ever meeting against Wilkes on March 19. The final scheduled date of the non-conference season will take place on April 2 against Rutgers-Camden. That match will be a split squad day with the team also competing against McDaniel in its first Centennial Conference road match of the year.
The two-match date to start April will be proceeded by the Centennial Conference home opener against Gettysburg on March 26. Haverford will also play host to Dickinson (Apr. 9), Franklin & Marshall (Apr. 23), and Ursinus (Apr. 26) during the regular season. On top of the trip to McDaniel, the Fords will travel to Washington College (Apr. 6), Muhlenberg (Apr. 12), Johns Hopkins (Apr. 16), and Swarthmore (Apr. 30). The Centennial Conference Tournament will get underway with the first round matchup on May 4 that will feature the tournament's Nos. 4 and 5 seeds. The conference semifinals and finals will take place on May 7-8.
Head coach Sean Sloane is in his 19th season leading the men's tennis program at Haverford. His teams have won 11 matches in each of the past four seasons. Sloane has led the team nine conference tournament appearances in the last 10 years, including a string of five straight appearances. Haverford went 11-6 last year and tied for third in the conference's regular season standings. The team returns each of its All-Centennial Conference performers from last season in Luis Acaba (first-team singles and doubles), Harrison Elbert (first-team doubles) and Dais Nakayama (second-team singles). Acaba and Elbert are serving as team captains during the 2015-16 season.