HERSHEY, Pa. - The Haverford College men's tennis team (7-7, 3-3 CC) put forth a dominant performance in its match against Franklin and Marshall (6-9, 3-3 CC) on Saturday, coming away with a 7-2 victory. The match was played indoors at the Hershey Racquet Club in Hershey, Pennsylvania due to inclement weather in Lancaster.
As has been the case in many of the close matches this year, the doubles competition started off well for Haverford, with Kirin Eicher and Abhinav Nallapareddy taking down Anthony Casale and Isaac Rockower of Franklin and Marshall, 8-1 in the third doubles position. Stefan Johnson and James McKenzie kept up the momentum, beating Zac Ashtiani and Luke Brodsky 8-5 in the first doubles spot.
Adam Chow and Justin Minerva had to fight for their victory, eventually beating Gonzalo Gentou and Pedro Norte of Franklin and Marshall in what became a tense tiebreaker, 8-7 (7-3), in the second doubles position. The doubles victories put Haverford up 3-0 heading into singles play, with all of the momentum as the first round of singles play hit the court.
In singles competition, Haverford showed its poise once again. Johnson, playing in the first singles position, had a commanding 6-2, 6-1 victory over Ashtiani. Kim continued the trend in the third singles position, defeating Gentou 6-3, 6-2 as Haverford wrapped up the match with Kim's clincher. Wingert, playing in the second singles position, was similarly dominant, winning his match against Rockower 6-3, 6-2.
With a shift towards pro sets played to eight due to the indoor format, McKenzie, playing in the fourth singles position, was able to secure a victory for Haverford against Brodsky winning 8-4 for his 11th match victory of the year including his fifth triumph at the fourth flight.
However, Minerva and Chow fell to Norte and Casale of Franklin and Marshall in the fifth and sixth singles positions, respectively.
Overall, Haverford's doubles teams were strong yet again, and their singles players showed their skill and determination despite the move indoors, leading to a convincing victory over Franklin and Marshall.
On the heels of back-to-back victories, Men's Tennis will now return to action with three of four at home to complete the regular season. Haverford takes on Ursinus on Tuesday, April 18 at 4 p.m. before battles with Goucher on Thursday and Dickinson on Saturday, April 22 for Senior Day.