ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Locked in a three-all tie with Muhlenberg and the final three singles matches taking the court, the Haverford College women's tennis team secured a Centennial Conference victory with wins at Nos. 4-6 singles. Those final three wins allowed the Fords (11-3, 4-2 CC) to prevail by a 6-3 margin.
Haverford seemingly got stronger as the match went along. In the doubles competition, the Fords were put in an early 2-1 deficit. The lone doubles victory came at the top position where Caitlin Gallagher and Robyn Himelstein emerged as 8-6 winners. Haverford's top duo notched its team-best ninth win together this spring with the hard-fought effort.
Muhlenberg earned the early advantage with doubles victories at No. 2 and No. 3. In the second slot, the Mules came out on top with an 8-5 victory. In the third doubles slot, Muhlenberg was an 8-3 winner.
Playing on the indoor courts, the top three singles matches were the next to hit the courts. In this newest wave, the Fords claimed two victories. Greta Koch earned Haverford's second point of the night with a 6-2, 6-3 straight set victory. Himelstein split a pair of 6-4 sets at No. 3 singles. In her decisive 10-point tiebreaker, she evened the team score at three-all with a 10-5 win.
Koch's win was her 10th of the season, while Himelstein now has a team-high 11 singles victories. Muhlenberg was able to salvage a point in these most recent matches with a win at No. 1 singles as Gallagher split the first 10 games of her second set for Haverford but dropped the final two games as she was unable to force the tiebreaker.
However, a convincing finish to the match sent the Fords back to campus on a high note. In the final three matches to finish play, Haverford won 24 games with three straight set victories. The Fords' opponents in these three singles matches combined for just 14 games.
Both Abby Payson and Kristen Andersen allowed just four games over their straight set wins. Payson was a 6-3, 6-1 winner at No. 4 singles to match Himelstein with 11 singles victories on the year. Andersen won by identical 6-2 set scores, improving to 5-1 in singles play.
Jessica Liu also picked up her 11th singles victory in the closest match of the final three matches on court. Liu opened her win at No. 5 with a convincing 6-2 win. Her opponent closed the gap in the second set, but a 6-4 second set win from Liu lifted Haverford to an eventual 6-3 win.
Women's tennis will be back on the road Saturday when the team travels to Dickinson. First serves of that conference battle are slated for 1 p.m.