April 27, 2002

Haverford, PA - Junior Kevin Alford (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon Township) won two matches to advance to the semifinals of the men's singles draw and lead Johns Hopkins in the second day of the Centennial Conference Tennis Championships held on the campus of Haverford College.

Alford, the No. 2 seed, defeated Jeff Kraft of Muhlenberg 6-3, 6-2 in the round of 16, and later eliminated fifth-seeded Louis Blanchette of Washington 6-3, 6-4. Alford will face No. 4 seed Asfand Farouk of Washington in the semifinals on Sunday. Sophomore Justin Chan (Mountain Lakes, NJ/Mountain Lakes) also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Haverford's Andrew Law, but fell in the round of eight to top-seeded Peter Taylor of Washington, 6-0, 6-0.

Alford and freshman Justin Belisario (Los Angeles, CA/Loyola), the top seed in the men's doubles draw, won both matches Saturday to advance to the final on Sunday. The team defeated Chris Fox and Bob Gray of Ursinus 8-1 in the quarterfinals and squeaked past Haverford's George Bulman and Aaron Scherb 9-7 in the semifinals. Alford and Belisario will face two-seeded Rafael Martins and Taylor of Washington in the men's doubles championship.

In women's singles action, senior Emily Petersen (Cedar Rapids, IA/Linn-Mar) and freshman Vandna Jerath (Augusta, GA/Augusta Prep) each won their round of 16 match before falling in the quarterfinals. Petersen, the No. 5 seed, defeated Dickinson's Tania Leach 6-2, 6-1 in her first match of the day but was eliminated by top-seeded Anjani Reddy of Swarthmore 6-0, 6-2. Jerath topped Franklin & Marshall's Alissa Leone 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3) in the round of 16 before falling to Melisa Sviatko of Dickinson 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinal round.

The championships conclude Sunday afternoon at Haverford.

-30-