HAVERFORD, PA – The 18
th-ranked Johns Hopkins men's tennis team jumped out to a 6-0 lead before going on to beat 39
th-ranked Haverford, 8-1, Friday afternoon in Centennial Conference action. The Blue Jays improve to 10-5 overall and 5-1 in the conference, while the Fords fall to 8-7 overall and 3-2 in the CC.
The Blue Jays swept the doubles' matches to grab an early 3-0 lead before winning five of six singles matches.
Daniel Ardila and
Marco Azar took the first point of the match as they beat Stefan Johnson and Marko Arboleda, 8-4, at number one doubles.
Hanyu Liu and
Chakor Rajendra then defeated Adam Chow and Justin Minerva, 8-4, at three.
Allen Gong and
Pranav Gadiraju completed the sweep with an 8-2 win over James McKenzie and Kirin Eicher at two.
Gong pushed Hopkins' lead to 4-0 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over McKenzie at four singles. Just a few minutes later, Liu clinched the Blue Jays' victory when he beat Johnson 6-3, 6-2 at three. Azar followed with an 8-2 win over Minerva at five and JHU led 6-0.
Arboleda grabbed a point for the Fords with a 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Ardila at one. Rajendra then rallied to win a hard-fought match at two over Kim, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (6). Gadiraju closed out the match with an 8-3 win at six over Nikhil Lavu.
Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, April 20 as the Blue Jays host Mary Washington. The non-conference match is scheduled for a 12:00 pm start at the JHU Tennis Courts.
