HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's tennis team handed The College of New Jersey its first loss of the season with a 6-3 victory inside the Alumni Field House on Wednesday evening. The Fords (6-2) won five of the first six matches to finish up against the Lions (7-1) and added another singles victory late to complete its victory with two wins in doubles and four more in singles. Haverford's win snapped a three-match losing streak to the Lions which dated back to the 2012 season.
David Kong and Kevin Yan were paired up at No. 1 doubles for the second straight match and won by an 8-4 score to give Haverford the first team point of the evening. That duo is now 3-1 together this year, remaining unbeaten during the spring season. Yan is 7-2 in doubles overall while Kong has six more doubles wins with various playing partners.
The Nos. 2 and 3 doubles matches both went to tiebreaks after each match saw the first 14 games split between the two sides. Senior co-captains Dais Nakayama and Ishaan Prinz won their tiebreak by a 7-5 score to give Haverford the 2-1 advantage heading into singles. Prinz and Nakayama were playing together for the first time all spring. The No. 3 pairing of Raja Arul and Nick Sweeney were also locked in a tiebreak, but saw that 7-5 tiebreak score ultimately turned against them.
Ishaan Prinz made very efficient work of his match at No. 2 singles, winning consecutive 6-3 sets and improving to 4-2 this spring. He is unbeaten this spring in the No. 2 position and has tallied back-to-back singles victories.
Kevin Yan and David Kong won in short succession to seal the team victory for Haverford as both players picked up their second wins of the night. Yan won a first set tiebreak before cruising to a 6-2 second set victory. He is now a perfect 2-0 playing No. 1 singles this spring. Kong allowed just four games total, two in each set, running his record to a team-best 11-0 in singles dating back to the fall. Playing No. 3 singles on Wednesday, the sophomore is now 2-0 in that lineup spot.
At No. 6 singles, Raja Arul claimed Haverford's sixth team point with a 6-0, 6-2 win. Arul is now unbeaten in his two singles matches this spring. The Fords dropped a pair of tough matches at No. 4 and No. 5 where the Lions were able to secure their final two team points. Dais Nakayama won a tiebreak to start his match, but fell by an 11-9 score in the deciding tiebreak. Pranav Krishnan played two tightly contested sets, but came up just shy during a 7-5, 7-6 (5) match in the fifth position.
Men's tennis will be back at home this Friday and Saturday for back-to-back nationally-ranked opponents. The Fords' busy week continues with No. 25 Case Western Reserve coming to campus on Friday for a 4 p.m. start. No. 22 Kenyon will visit on Saturday in a match that is slated to get underway at 9 a.m.