April 25, 2009
Box Score
BALTIMORE, MD - The 12th-ranked Johns Hopkins men's tennis team beat visiting Haverford, 8-1 on Saturday to clinch the Centennial Conference regular season title. It was the 29th consecutive conference win for the Blue Jays as they completed their third straight unbeaten Centennial Conference season. Hopkins improves to 13-3 overall and 9-0 in the conference, while Haverford falls to 12-4 overall and 7-2 in the conference.
Hopkins swept all three doubles matches to take an early 3-0 lead in the match. Freshman Jacob Barnaby (Phoenix, AZ/Desert Vista) and sophomore Casey Blythe (Louisville, KY/St. Xavier) won 8-3 at second over Evan Stiegel and Hailiu Yang. Freshman Warren Elgort (New York, NY/Trinity School) and sophomore Ryan Rauck (Columbus, OH/Bexley) then beat Will Garrett and Marc Rudolph 8-5 at third. At first, Alex Buxbaum and Thomas Kinrade were up 7-1 over junior David Maldow (Jericho, NY/Jericho) and sophomore Andrew Wang (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) before the Hopkins duo won eight straight games to take the match 9-7. For Maldow it was the 106th win of his career, tying Joe Vasoontara's ('08) school record for total wins.
In singles action, Wang improved to 19-2 on the season with a 7-5, 6-3 win at second over Kinrade. At third, Elgort beat Stiegel, 7-5, 6-2 for his 16th win of the season. Barnaby ran his win streak to 11 with a 6-3, 7-5 win at fourth over Rudolph. At fifth, freshman Orlando Ferrer (Naples, FL/Bradenton Prepartory Academy) dropped just three games in beating Stephen Feder. Blythe turned the same trick at sixth in his win over Yang. Buxbaum picked up the lone point of the match for Haverford, beating Maldow in three sets at first, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
Johns Hopkins will host the Centennial Conference Tournament next weekend in Baltimore. Top-seed Hopkins will face off against fourth-seeded Washington College on Friday, May 1. Swarthmore and Haverford will meet in the other semifinal. Times will be announced on Monday, April 27. The Blue Jays are seeking their third straight and fourth overall Centennial Conference title.
