After another impressive streak of momentum, the Hopkins men’s tennis team took down Centennial Conference rival Haverford, 7-2 this past Saturday. With some perfect weather for tennis, the Jays asserted themselves as the dominant competitor, winning all six singles matches despite early struggles in the doubles round.
The win was the eighth in a row for the Jays who have remained undefeated since mid-March. The win against the Fords brought the Jays to an overall record of 12-2 and 6-0 in the Centennial Conference.
“We’ve played some solid, consistent tennis since the beginning of Centennial Conference play,” senior Andy Hersh said. “Despite our slow start during the early Spring, we’ve made great strides to put us into a great position for playoffs.”
They are the only team in the conference who has yet to lose, making the Jays the favorites in upcoming postseason play. Hopkins handed Haverford their first conference loss of the season as the Fords record dropped to 7-5 and 5-1 in conference play. The Jays have continued to rise in rank during their hot streak, as they currently hold eighth overall among Division III tennis teams.
Although Hopkins came out the clear winners in the end, the match was by no means a breeze. Hopkins fell behind early to an in-sync, powerful doubles crew. Sophomores Tanner Brown and Erik Lim were the first to experience the Haverford doubles squad, as they dropped the first match, 8-5. Haverford took an early 3-0 advantage in games and the initial confidence guided them towards first doubles victory.
However, it didn’t take long for the Jays to deadlock the score as freshman Nicholas Garcia and sophomore Noah Joachim came right back with a decisive 8-5 victory at second doubles. The match at third doubles was hard fought and incredibly tight throughout as both duos consistently swapped leads. In the end, seniors Andy Hersh and Jeff Kamei fell 9-8 in a tiebreaker to give the Fords the advantage heading into the singles matches.
Staying calm and composed, the Jays hit the ground running with a new energy in the singles matches. Garcia was the first to be victorious in his singles match as he quickly disposed of Matthew Cebul in the sixth singles matchup. Garcia won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1 and continued his recent hot streak in singles matches.
Sophomore Sam Weissler, who has been crucial to the Jays wins throughout the streak, similarly made quick work of his opponent at fourth singles, defeating Andy Dougherty 6-2, 6-3. Weissler has been on a terror lately, winning five consecutive singles matched in a row. Junior Jeremy Schwartz kept the streak of wins going, as he trounced his opponent in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.
The momentum looked as if it was going to shift back in favor of the Fords after Lim dropped his first set 4-6. However, his determination fueled him to a convincing victory as he claimed the remaining sets 6-3, 6-1. His rally exemplified the type of tennis the Jays have been playing all year long, as the team has continuously come from behind match after match.
Hersh followed up the gutsy effort by Lim with a dominating performance against Luis Acaba, defeating him in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 in the seconds match. Finally, Brown closed out singles play with a competitive match at first singles, one in which he came out on top, taking two of three sets to complete the sweep at singles.
“It was great to see our singles sweep on Saturday,” Hersh said. “We’ve been relying on our doubles teams throughout the year, but over this win streak, our singles play has improved tremendously and has been key to our success and winning streak.”
The match concluded with a final score of 7-2 in favor of the Jays to extend their impressive winning streak to eight games straight.
Despite a slower start to the season, Hopkins is the only team that remains undefeated in the Centennial Conference with a perfect 6-0 record, and they show no signs of slowing down.
“This streak has put us in a great position heading into the playoffs,” Hersh said. “We’ve been deemed the team to beat. I’m excited to see how we perform as we close out the season.”
They returned to the courts Wednesday where they took on fellow Centennial Conference rival McDaniel. The team defeated the rival 9-0, continuing both their winning streak and perfect Centennial Conference record.
