HAVERFORD, Pa. – Luis Acaba has been named the Centennial Conference Player of the Week for men's tennis after helping to lead his team to a pair of victories in his native Puerto Rico over spring break. The Fords' co-captain and No. 1 player in the lineup went a combined 4-0 in singles and doubles during victories against NCAA Division I Sacred Heart and local university Puerto Rico – Rio Piedras.
Acaba, who is currently 3-0 overall at No. 1 singles this spring, started his week with a key victory that helped fuel the Fords' upset of Sacred Heart. In that match against his Division I foe, Acaba had to come back from a first set tiebreak loss to eventually win in a 10-point tiebreak. Acaba forced the ultimate tiebreak with a 6-0 blanking of his opponent in the second set.
The San Juan, Puerto Rico native then won the tiebreak by a 10-6 margin. Acaba was one of two 10-point tiebreak wins for the Fords that enabled them to pull through with a 4-3 team victory. He also won his No. 1 doubles match with teammate Harrison Elbert by a 6-2 score as Haverford swept through the doubles action to clinch the doubles point.
The senior was also victorious against local Rio Piedras at the top of the lineup for the Fords. With his all-conference running mate, Elbert and Acaba dispatched their No. 1 counterparts with an 8-2 score in doubles. Acaba completed his unbeaten week with a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 1 singles.
Acaba is currently 3-0 on the season in singles as he also topped the No. 16 player in the region during the Fords' home opener in the previous week. He and Elbert are 2-1 so far in doubles after the pairing earned first-team All-Centennial Conference doubles recognition a season ago. Acaba is a two-time first-team All-CC selection in singles and was named the conference's rookie of the year in 2013.
Men's tennis will close out the month of March with three straight home dates. The first of those matches will be played this Saturday against Wilkes with action scheduled to get underway at 12 p.m.