FULLERTON, Calif. & REDLANDS Calif.  – The No. 25 Haverford College men's tennis team (3-6) dropped a pair of matches in Southern California on Thursday afternoon, falling to Hope International of the NAIA by a 5-2 final before No. 27 Redlands grabbed a 7-0 win on its home courts in the nightcap.

Hope International 5, Haverford 2

The Fords captured the doubles point but ultimately dropped a tightly contested non-conference match to Hope International (NAIA) on Thursday, with the Royals prevailing after a series of narrow singles decisions.

Hope International struck first in doubles as Sebastien Perez and Mohamed Elsheikh quickly secured a 6-1 victory over Caden Hsia and Niki Lavu at No. 3 doubles, finishing in just 23 minutes to give the Royals an early edge.

Haverford responded by sweeping the top two doubles flights to take the point. At No. 1 doubles, Marko Arboleda and Robbie Vazquez delivered a 6-4 victory over Karan Srivastava and Tommy Folsom, leveling the doubles score. Moments later, Teo Bortan and Stefan Johnson clinched the doubles point for the Fords with another 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles against Dylan Barrett and Kaito Henderson.

Hope International quickly swung momentum in singles play, claiming the first two completed matches to take control of the contest. At No. 1 singles, Karan Srivastava posted a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Chait Krishna in 49 minutes. Tommy Folsom followed at No. 2 singles with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Zach Miano to give the Royals the lead.

The middle of the singles lineup featured a pair of marathon contests that ultimately went in Hope International's favor. At No. 6 singles, Kento Henderson battled Alejandro Rodriguez in a three-set affair, taking the opening set before Rodriguez rallied to force a deciding match tiebreaker. Henderson ultimately prevailed 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 10-6 in a match lasting just over two hours.

Another tightly contested match followed at No. 3 singles, where Kaito Henderson and Lucio Kombo split the opening two sets. Henderson claimed the first set before Kombo responded to force a match tiebreaker, with Kombo prevailing 10-7 secure the victory after more than two hours on court.

At No. 4 singles, Noah Wolff rebounded well from a second-set setback but was defeated in a tiebreak. Wolff captured the opening set 6-2 before Sebastien Perez answered with a 6-3 second set victory, but Perez closed the match deftly by winning the match tiebreaker, 10-7.

At No. 5 singles, Mohamed Elsheikh and Arnav Nemali also required a deciding tiebreaker. Nemali took the opening set 6-2, but Elsheikh responded with a 6-0 second set before pulling away in the match tiebreaker, 10-5, to close out the afternoon.

Redlands 7, Haverford 0

Later on Thursday afternoon, the Bulldogs secured a 7-0 victory on their home courts in a rematch of last season's dramatic Haverford upset at the Coach Jim Verdieck Tennis Center . Redlands took early control by sweeping all three doubles matches to claim the doubles point.

At No. 1 doubles, Marlon Abarca and Tyler Pyle were first off the courts, defeating Arboleda and Vazquez, 6-3. Moments later, Cooper Whittington and Samuel Parsons extended the lead with a 6-2 victory over Bortan and Johnson at No. 2 doubles. The Bulldogs completed the doubles sweep at No. 3, where Mateen Ghafarshad and Jack Hinkle topped Lavu and Hsia, 6-4.

Redlands maintained momentum in singles play, claiming the first decision at No. 1 singles. Gustavo Marcanth earned a 6-4, 6-1 win over Arboleda in just over an hour to extend the Bulldogs' advantage.

The next match to finish came from the bottom of the lineup, as Cooper Whittington defeated Aarush Kumar at No. 6 singles, 6-2, 6-2.

Redlands then added another point at No. 2 singles, where Marlon Abarca posted a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Lavu. The Bulldogs continued their run at No. 5 singles, with Mateen Ghafarshad edging Stefan Johnson in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

Two tightly contested matches closed the afternoon. At No. 3 singles, Vazquez captured the opening set in a tiebreak before Jack Hinkle rallied for a 6-3 second set and a match tiebreak victory to secure the point.

The final match to conclude came at No. 4 singles. Bortan clinched a first-set tiebreak but was upended in a 6-2 second-set win by William Pullin to force a deciding match tiebreak  Pullin ultimately prevailed in that breaker, 10-4, to close out the match for the hosts.

The Fords will now wrap up spring break competition with another tough test, heading to top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Friday for action at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center (4 p.m. PT).