BOX SCORESWARTHMORE, Pa. – For the second consecutive season, the Swarthmore College men's tennis team earned a berth in the Centennial Conference final as it blanked the visiting Franklin & Marshall Diplomats by a 5-0 score.
The Garnet opened the match with a doubles sweep to take an early 3-0 lead. Freshmen
Ari Cepelewicz and
Mark Fallati combined for an 8-4 win over Nolan Bacchieri and Vasant Rajamanickam at the No. 1 spot while
John Larkin and
Blake Oetting cruised to an 8-1 rout against Jack Rothman and Hamza Pataudi at No. 3.
Harrison Lands and
Josh Powell completed the sweep with an 8-3 victory over Doug Kaplan and Will Samuels in the second doubles flight.
In singles,
Yosuke Higashi made quick work of Rajamanickam at the No. 5 spot in a 6-0, 6-1 decision. Fallati avenged a regular-season loss to Bacchieri at second singles with a 6-4, 6-1 win. Down 4-1 in the first set, the freshman battled back and won 12 of the next 13 games to take the match and clinch the overall win for the Garnet.
Larkin and
Michael Song won their first sets by respective scores of 6-4 and 6-0, while Cepelewicz and Oetting were poised to even their courts at a set apiece before the match was called.
Swarthmore will travel to Johns Hopkins, winner of the past eight conference titles, on Sunday, May 3 for the final at 11 a.m.
