CLAREMONT, Calif. – The No. 25 Haverford College men's tennis team (3-3) opened its spring break trip on Monday evening with a challenging matchup against No. 16 Pomona-Pitzer (5-4) at the Pauley Tennis Complex, ultimately falling by a 4-3 final score in a spirited battle open up the Golden State stint for the Fords. 

The host Sagehens built an early advantage by sweeping the doubles competition, claiming the opening point with three tight wins. Pomona-Pitzer struck first at No. 1, where Drew Goldman and Jayanth Mallampati defeated Marko Arboleda and Robbie Vazquez, 6-1, in the first match to finish. The Sagehens quickly extended their momentum at No. 2  as Leo Rocca and Kiran Vairavanathan posted a 6-4 victory over Teo Bortan and Stefan Johnson to clinch the doubles point.  Pomona-Pitzer completed the sweep moments later at No. 3, where Neil Chulani and Samuel English edged Caden Hsia and Niki Lavu by a 7-5 score.

Haverford responded with a strong push during singles play, earning three victories across the lineup. The first singles match to conclude went to the Sagehens at the top spot, where Goldman defeated Arboleda, 6-4, 6-0, to give Pomona-Pitzer a 2-0 overall lead.

The Fords answered quickly at No. 2 singles as Lavu delivered an impressive straight-sets performance, defeating Samuel English by a 6-1, 6-3 score to put Haverford on the board with a major triumph. Pomona-Pitzer restored its cushion in the next match to finish when Ethan Zou topped Hsia, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 6 singles.

Haverford continued to battle in the middle of the lineup. Bortan secured another point for the Fords with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over John Wehrle at No. 4 singles, trimming the deficit to 3-2 and keeping the match competitive. The Sagehens clinched the result when Tanner Ige defeated Aarush Kumar, 7-5, 6-1, at No. 5 singles. 

However, Haverford added one more point late as Roberto Vazquez capped the evening with a gritty three-set victory at No. 3 singles, defeating Leo Rocca, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, in the final match of the afternoon finish.

Despite the late push in singles play, Haverford came up just short against a powerful Sagehens team that also reached the NCAA Tournament a season ago. Haverford will return to action tomorrow with another ranked-vs-ranked matchup, this time against No. 21 Sewanee at Pepperdine University in scenic Malibu, California. The contest is slated for 12 p.m. PT (3 p.m. ET).