Swat Fixes Fords, Sews Up Playoff Spot
HAVERFORD, Pa. -- Swarthmore men's tennis extended one streak and re-started another at rival Haverford Tuesday afternoon, clawing to a 6-3 win. With the victory, Swarthmore clinches its second consecutive Centennial Conference playoff berth.
The Garnet (9-6, 7-1 CC) have earned a Conference playoff berth in each of its two years affiliated with the Centennial, having fallen to the Fords in the semi-finals of 2008. That was the first ever defeat of the Garnet by Haverford in men’s tennis (a streak of 50 matches).
Swarthmore, ranked ninth in the Atlantic South region, jumps into a tie for second place in the Conference with the Fords (12-3, 7-1 CC), ranked eighth. Both teams trail leader Johns Hopkins (7-0 CC) who is seeking its second consecutive Conference championship.
Swarthmore needed every bit of energy to pull out a sweep of the doubles’ action Tuesday afternoon. The No. 1 Garnet duo of Kevin Shaughnessy ’09 (South Kingston, R.I. / South Kingston) and Zak Kelm ’12 (Shaker Heights, Ohio / University School) grinded past the top Haverford pair of Alex Buxbaum and Thomas Kinrade (named All-America in 2007) in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (5). It is the seventh straight win for Swarthmore’s No. 1 pair, who remained unblemished in Centennial action.
This is the second All-American duo that Shaughnessy (above) and Kelm defeated this spring—the pair topped the top Hopkins’ pair, named All-America earlier in the fall.
Swarthmore picked up a pair of 9-7 decisions at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Stephen Youngblood ‘12 (Narcross, Ga.) and Mark Wee ’11 (Syosset, N.Y. / Syosset) took care of business at No. 2 doubles, defeating Evan 
Stiegel and Hailiu Yang, while the freshman tandem of Maxwell Bressman (Chappaqua, N.Y. / Horace Greeley) and Eric Legunn (Waccabuc, N.Y. / John Jay) secured a Swarthmore win over Will Garret and Marc Rudolph at No. 3.
Singles play was just as grueling as three matches went to the three-set maximum. Shaughnessy fought past Kinkade in straight sets, the defending CC Player of the Year, by scores of 7-5, 6-4. Wee (above) won his third consecutive match, cruising past Rudolph 6-4, 6-1 while senior JJ England (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. / The Benjamin School) extended his own streak to four straight wins with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Haverford’s Steven Feder.
Swarthmore has one more match on the regular season schedule, hosting Franklin & Marshall this weekend at 1:00 p.m. right here on the College Avenue Courts.