HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's tennis team opened up its 2019 season at home against No. 20 New York University on Saturday. The Violets (1-0) ultimately ended up showing why the national raters think so highly of their team as they came away with a 9-0 victory during the spring debut for both teams.
Starting off in doubles, Jane Bary and Anne Tobin played at the top of the lineup for Haverford and took four games off of the No. 20-ranked doubles pairing before falling by an 8-4 score. The duo of Emily Shutman and Clara Farrehi also secured four games in its match at No. 2 doubles while the Violets secured a 3-0 advantage with an 8-3 victory in the third doubles match.
Bary assumed the No. 1 singles spot in the Fords' lineup and forced her opponent to play a decisive 10-point tiebreak at the top of the lineup. Bary won the first set by a 6-2 score but her opponent turned that score against her in the second. Haverford's co-captain won five points during the tiebreak before the Violet emerged with that hard-fought team point.
Playing No. 5 singles, Natalie Williams took four games from her opponent as she nearly forced a 10-point tiebreak of her own before falling in the second. Doubles partners Shutman and Farrehi also took two games off of their opponents in the respective second and fourth singles positions. Ananya Prakash claimed an additional game in the final singles to hit the court.
After getting the spring dual season underway Saturday, the Fords will now have two weeks of practice before heading to California during the College's week of Spring Break. While making the program's first-ever trip to California, the Fords will play four matches. Up first on that challenging slate will be No. 1 and defending national champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Sunday, March 10.