HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's tennis team, ranked No. 13 in the Atlantic South Region, defeated 20th-ranked Washington College on Thursday evening to stay unbeaten in Centennial Conference action and run its winning streak to seven straight matches.
The Fords (7-1, 3-0 CC) handed the Shorewomen (8-3, 3-1 CC) their first conference defeat of the season with a number of hard-fought victories up and down the lineup. Haverford's seven-match winning streak equals the team's longest since the 2015 season when it also won seven straight. Only eight different winning streaks are currently longer in program history. With the victory, Haverford is now one of just four teams that are currently unbeaten in conference play early on in the conference slate.
Winning two of three doubles matches got the Fords out to a great start. The No. 2 pairing of Julia Gan and Greta Koch kept its winning ways going during an 8-5 victory. That duo is now 6-0 this spring, including two conference victories.
WAC evened the match by turning that 8-5 score in its favor at No. 1 doubles against the regionally-ranked duo of Jane Bary and Emily Shutman. The Fords rallied back with an 8-6 win at No. 3 doubles with Sam Berg and Clara Farrehi winning their third straight match together this spring. That pairing is now 4-1 overall.
Once again, the Shorewomen answered the Haverford lead with a straight set win at No. 1 singles. However, it was all Fords after that as they closed the night with five straight victories. Emily Shutman allowed just two games during her opening set at No. 4 singles to give Haverford the lead back for good. Shutman is now 6-1 in singles this spring, sporting a 5-0 record at the No. 4 position.
Wins from Jane Bary and Greta Koch sealed the team decision. Bary did not allow a game to her opponent during the opening set and backed that up with a 6-3 win in the second. That straight set victory makes her 5-1 this spring with a 5-0 record at No. 2 singles. Koch clinched the team's fifth point with a hard-fought three-set win. She started her night with a 6-3 opening set victory. After her opponent took the second, she roared back with another 6-3 win in the decisive third set. She is now one of three players (Shutman and Julia Gan) who are tied for the team lead with seven wins in singles. She is a perfect 2-0 in conference matches so far this spring.
The Fords capped the night with a pair of 10-point tiebreaks at Nos. 5 and 6 singles. Clara Farrehi (No. 5) and Sam Berg (No. 6) each went in front with identical 6-3 wins during their opening sets. Farrehi ran her singles record to 4-1 in the No. 5 position this spring with a 10-6 victory in the tiebreak. Berg now sits at 5-2 this spring in singles after a 10-7 tiebreak victory.
Women's tennis will be back on the road Saturday for another match-up of conference unbeatens as the Fords travel to Franklin & Marshall. With inclement weather in the forecast, both the men's and women's matches against the Diplomats will now begin at 2 p.m. and be played inside the Hempfield Rec Center.