LANCASTER, Pa. – The Haverford College women's tennis team took down Franklin & Marshall for its second straight victory over an unbeaten team in the Centennial Conference, dispatching the Diplomats by a 7-2 score. The Fords (8-1, 4-0 CC) have now won eight straight matches for their longest winning streak since the 1996 season.
Ranked No. 13 in the Atlantic South Region, the Fords' victory was their first against the Diplomats (5-4, 3-1) since the 2014 season when Haverford beat Franklin & Marshall to appear in its first and only Centennial Conference Championship match in program history. F&M came into today ranked 15th as a team in the Atlantic South.
Haverford put itself in an advantageous position by winning two of the three doubles matches. The first victory came in the third doubles match as Clara Farrehi and Natalie Williams were victorious by an 8-2 score. That result came in spite of the duo being paired up for the first time all season on Saturday.
The Fords went up 2-0 with an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles from Greta Koch and Julia Gan. That pairing is now 7-0 together this spring with a 3-0 record against Centennial Conference competition. F&M got its only point of doubles as the regionally-ranked pairing of Jane Bary and Emily Shutman was stopped by an 8-4 score.
Turning to singles, Jane Bary and Greta Koch put the Fords on the brink of victory in the first wave of matches to hit the courts. Bary allowed just two games during the opening set to her opponent at No. 2 singles. She is now 6-0 this spring at No. 2 singles. Koch won a 10-point tiebreak at No. 3 singles. She dropped the first set, but came back strong with a 6-4 win in the second. The senior co-captain put the Fords just one individual win away from the team decision with a 10-6 victory in the tiebreak. Koch now has a team-leading eight victories dating back to the fall to go along with a 3-0 record against conference opponents in singles.
The host Diplomats did take the No. 1 singles match by a 6-3, 6-2 score. Nevertheless, three more straight-set victories that were yet to come insured that the match would never be in doubt the rest of the afternoon. Emily Shutman clinched the decisive fifth team point with a 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 4 singles. She is now tied with Koch as both players have eight wins this year. Shutman is 6-0 at the No. 4 spot in the lineup.
Clara Farrehi and Natalie Williams put the finishing touches on Haverford's victory. Farrehi did not allow a game to her opponent during a 6-0, 6-0 victory. She too is unbeaten in conference singles matches and holds a 5-1 overall record at her regular No. 5 spot in the lineup. Williams was making her spring singles debut, but was very impressive regardless with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at No. 6 singles.
Women's tennis will be back in action on Tuesday with a trip to Ursinus as first serves in that match are scheduled for 4 p.m. Haverford will then take on the other two remaining unbeaten teams in conference play as it travels to Swarthmore on Friday in a 4 p.m. start. The Fords return home next Saturday for an 11 a.m. first serve against defending conference champion Johns Hopkins.