2020 Season Preview
The Haverford College men's tennis team opens its spring season this weekend with matches against nationally-ranked TCNJ (Friday) and Stevens (Saturday). The Fords are coming off of another Centennial Conference Tournament appearance in 2019 and have a multitude of returning talent which will only be strengthened by the first-year class.
Although the Fords graduate 2019 Centennial Conference Player of the Year Josh Moskovitz '19, Haverford has five returners on the roster with All-Centennial Conference accolades on their resume. Kevin Yan headlines a strong group of players who could assume the spot at the top of the lineup as he played No. 2 singles behind Moskovitz during the past two seasons. Yan has 38 singles wins and 33 doubles wins during his career. The Centennial Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2019, Yan is a three-time All-CC performer in singles, earning first-team accolades in 2017 when he was the conference's rookie of the year. He has also earned second-team All-CC accolades in doubles during the past two seasons.
Sophomore George Jiang played No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles last year on his way to second-team All-CC recognition for both. Haverford's MacIntosh Award recipient for the top scholar-athlete from his first-year class, Jiang is 22-9 in singles to date with 21 more victories in doubles. He earned those all-conference accolades in doubles alongside junior Pranav Krishnan who also filled the No. 4 spot in the singles lineup last spring on top of his all-conference recognition. Krishnan holds 22 doubles and 20 singles victories entering the spring season.
Returning from a year abroad are former All-CC selections David Kong and Raja Arul. Kong went a team-best 16-3 in singles during the 2018 season on his way to second-team All-CC honors. Now a senior, Kong also holds 24 victories in doubles where he was a first-team All-CC selection in 2018. Arul and Kong were doubles partners when they both earned second-team all-conference status in 2017. Arul has also seen time in the singles lineup throughout his career and has 25 combined victories between singles and doubles during his career.
However, the experience does not stop there as Arnav Patodia and Rob Kresch are two more skilled seniors for the Fords. Patodia posted career highs in both singles wins (10) and doubles wins (11) last year at No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles. Kresch returns to the fold after also spending his junior year studying abroad. He holds a 13-4 career record in singles and a 16-11 mark in doubles. Adam Branovan adds to the six-member senior class with a 2-2 record during his career.
In addition to the aforementioned Krishnan, Matthew Danielson, Scott Kozarsky, and Jun Mo make up the junior class. Mo has the most experience of that trio as he holds a combined career record of 12-9. Danielson won his only varsity match a year ago while Kozarsky brings a 3-1 singles record to the varsity lineup. Sophomores Patrick Kley and Jackson Trevor also gained crucial experience during their first-year with the team. Jackson went 3-0 in conference doubles matches and played alongside Kresch in the championship doubles draw of the ITA Regional Championship this fall. Kley went a perfect 5-0 in doubles during his rookie campaign, picking up three CC victories along the way.
Jason Edmonds, Abhinav Nallapareddy, and Harrison Weinstock will make their spring debuts for Haverford in 2020 as the Fords' first-year class. Edmonds and Nallapareddy teamed up for B2 doubles at the ITA Regional Championships and won that draw after dropping just seven games over three victories to highlight their fall season. Weinstock did not see any live action during the fall but will look to make his competitive debut this coming spring.
Haverford's schedule features six teams that are ranked in the ITA National Polls entering the spring. That group includes both of the Fords' foes this coming weekend as they jump head first into the season. Haverford will again be making its trip to California for the second straight season under 2019 Centennial Conference Coach of the Year Brendan Kincaid. While out west, the team will hit nationally-ranked RPI and Caltech among its five matches. Haverford ultimately closes the regular season with home matches against rivals Johns Hopkins and Swarthmore. Those two duals will be part of seven home contests for the Fords this spring.
Men's tennis went 13-8 overall last season, including a 7-2 record in Centennial Conference matches to earn the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament and another appearance in the CC semifinals. Haverford has made the Centennial Conference Tournament during 13 of the last 14 years, including nine straight seasons entering this spring. The Fords were 10-3 against teams in their region last year while also posting an 8-1 mark on their home courts.