FULLERTON, Calif. - The Haverford College men's tennis team (2-2) began its annual Spring Break trip with a victory over NAIA opponent Hope International (4-6), as the Fords claimed a 5-2 triumph over the Royals to begin their stint in Southern California.  The match, which was a home match for Hope International, took place at the nearby Fullerton Tennis Center. 

Haverford got off to a hot start in doubles play, picking up wins on all three courts to secure the coveted doubles' point. On court one, the team of Marko Arboleda and Owen Kilmer turned away Ricky Lizardo and Kaito Henderson 6-1, before the dynamic duo of James McKenzie and Justin Minerva clinched the doubles point on court two, by prevailing 6-4 over Yahia El Sheikh and Reid Lizardo. Doubles play wrapped up on court three as the rookie tandem of Teo Bortan and Zach Miano defeated Dylan Barrett and Tommy Folsom 6-5.

Moving on to singles play, Kilmer picked up Haverford's second point of the day, defeating Ricky Lizardo on court three 6-1,6-1, before Hope International got on the board, as Reid Lizardo took down McKenzie 6-1, 6-2 on court two.

The Fords went up 3-1, as Chait Krishna dispatched Kaito Henderson 6-2, 6-4, while Arboleda downed El Sheikh 6-3, 6-3, to extend the Scarlet and Black lead to 4-1, clinching things for the Fords. Hope International pulled one back on court six, as Kento Henderson claimed a 1-6, 6-3, 1-0 (third-set tiebreaker), victory over Bortan, before Haverford's Niki Lavu sealed up the 5-2 victory by defeating Folsom 6-4, 6-4.

NOTE: Haverford's second match of the day, with the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz, began at 7 p.m. PT at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, and was still ongoing at the time of publication.