Centennial Conference Championship Central
HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's tennis team will be making its 12th postseason appearance 13 years since the inception of the Centennial Conference Tournament this Saturday when the Fords travel to Swarthmore. The match-up between the No. 3 seed Fords (11-6, 7-2 CC) and second-seeded Garnet (12-11, 8-1 CC) is scheduled to get underway at 3 p.m. That match will be preceded by the women's match featuring these same two teams. Haverford enters the weekend as the No. 13 team in the ITA's Atlantic South Regional rankings.
Haverford's only defeats have come to nationally-ranked opponents. The Fords have made it to at least the conference semifinals during each of their previous Centennial Conference playoff appearances. Haverford has advanced to the Centennial Conference Championship on three occasions, with the most recent coming during the 2013 season. Haverford and Swarthmore have met four different times in the Centennial Conference playoffs. The Fords' victory during that span came in 2008 when Haverford made its first-ever appearance in the championship match following a thrilling 5-4 win during the semifinal round.
When these teams met in the regular season, Swarthmore emerged with a 7-2 victory during a match that did not truly represent just how close these teams are. Two of the singles matches went to 10-piont tiebreaks, while two other matches featured set tiebreaks that ultimately both fell to the Garnet in singles.
Kevin Yan was victorious in both singles and doubles during the first match at Swarthmore. Playing No. 2 singles, Yan has eight victories this spring. Holding a 5-1 record in Centennial Conference matches, his only conference defeat came during a controversial unsportsmanlike penalty call against Johns Hopkins. At the top of the lineup, Josh Moskovitz – the No. 10 ranked player in the Atlantic South Region – is expected to match up against the only Centennial Conference player to defeat him during the regular season. Co-captain Moskovitz went 10-7 during the regular season in the top spot in the lineup with a 6-1 CC singles record.
Ishaan Prinz holds an identical 10-7 record, going 5-2 during the conference regular season at No. 3 singles. The Fords' senior co-captain owns 41 career victories in singles during his collegiate career. David Kong recently moved up to No. 4 singles after amassing a 16-3 record during the regular season. Kong maintains a 6-2 record in conference singles matches this season and is 19-4 in his career.
Co-captain Dais Nakayama switched with Kong in the lineup and has five victories this spring, three of which came against Centennial Conference opposition this spring. Nakayama has won 27 singles matches to date in his college career. First year Pranav Krishnan matched Nakayama's record during the regular season as the No. 6 player in the Fords' lineup.
Doubles is also a strength for Haverford as the team went 22-5 in Centennial Conference matches during the regular season. Kevin Yan and Dais Nakayama teamed up for a win at No. 2 doubles during the regular season meeting with the Garnet. That pairing is 9-4 together, holding a 5-1 CC record. The No. 1 pairing of Josh Moskovitz and David Kong is ranked No. 12 in the Atlantic South Region following its own 9-4 regular season, featuring a 6-1 conference record. Pranav Krishnan and Ishaan Prinz saw the most action at No. 3 doubles during the regular season where those two won a pair of Centennial Conference matches. Prinz is 5-1 with Rob Kresch as a doubles partner, including an 8-4 conference win during the final weekend of the regular season.
The winner of Saturday's semifinal match will advance to Sunday's Centennial Conference Championship match against the winner of top-seeded Johns Hopkins and fourth-seeded Franklin & Marshall. The Centennial Conference Championship match will be played Sunday at 3 p.m. Haverford fell to Johns Hopkins by a 5-4 score during the regular season and beat Franklin & Marshall by a 7-2 tally.