Despite first singles and recent 2024 IAAL singles tournament winner Max Olson sitting out due to injury, and second doubles player Drew Carrasco missing the match with illness, Haverford Tennis continued the undefeated season with a 6-1 victory over Springside Chestnut Hill Academy on April 30th. The tennis squad traveled to SCHA on a warm, dry Tuesday, to take on the Blue Devils for the second time this season, having already posted a 6-1 victory at home on April 9.
Fifth Form third singles Phineas Minogue led the charge with a quick and merciless double bagel, 6-0, 6-0, to put the Fords ahead. Minogue relentlessly stretched his opponent Jayson Blum from sideline to sideline until he forced an error. Combining his precise shot placement with a vicious serve, Minogue racked up his second clean sheet against SCHA.
One court over, Sixth Form second singles Graeme Herbert found himself in a tougher match against Drew Sharon. After barely dropping the first set 6-4, Herbert was determined to turn things around. “First set was tough, [I’m] battling an illness so, low energy,” Herbert said. “My opponent got injured [in the] second set, so I used that to my advantage and closed out the second set before rallying and winning the tiebreak twelve to ten. It was tight.”
Herbert transitioned away from his usual drop-shot, slice-heavy game as a squash player and began pushing the ball deeper and moving his opponent around, outlasting him until an error, similar to Minogue’s strategy, but less aggressive.
The doubles games proved to be the exciting matches of the day, as first singles Kaizer Zhao commanded an efficient 6-4, 6-1 victory over SCHA’s Andrew Blum.
Sixth Form veteran Ryan Moran stepped due to the stretched lineup and competed at fourth doubles along with Fifth Former Eli Leader, and the two stepped into a close matchup.
“I think our chemistry and communication were not good enough, but I do realize that is probably because we are working with tight numbers, and we don’t normally play together. I think we worked around that well to come out on top,” Moran said.
The pair executed a 6-4, 6-4 win, despite a slow start. “We were forcing shots at the start,” Moran said. “After we settled in and started playing consistently we made fewer mistakes and outlasted them.”
On court six, Fourth Formers James MacColl and Jonah Grunes pulled out a third doubles victory after a very narrow first-set tiebreak.
“Our opponents had a different play style that was pretty unusual,” MacColl said, “but once we adapted our shots and kept them back towards the baseline we had the momentum.”
They were able to close out the second set 6-3 with a more decisive win. Grunes and MacColl finished the match seven to six, seven to four in the tiebreak, and six to three.
Despite a strong battle, Sixth Former Arsh Aggarwal and Fifth Former Gabe Crowder could not pull out a victory on the first doubles court.
Aggarwal said, “Going into the match, I knew it would be tough since I had never played with Gabe before, and in doubles, you need to know your partner’s game. We put up a good fight, but in the end, the other team was a stronger team.”
Aggarwal and Crowder can attest to the effects of missing players in the lineup, but they were happy with the team’s overall performance and are already focused on the next match.
Third Former R.J. Neilly and Fifth Former Ian Rosenzweig pulled out a commanding 6-2, 6-2 win at second doubles. “It was a great match. We couldn’t miss. And we were strong on top of the net,” Neilly said. Their strong net game combined with a near-perfect serving game for an efficient win.
The Fords stayed hot and are looking to get hotter with a full week of matches. On Thursday, May 9, the Fords take on Lawrenceville, a true test of their undefeated record and possibly the hardest match of the season. On Friday the stage is set for “senior night” against Malvern, as the season approaches its end.
