Women's Tennis Wins Centennial Opener, 7-2 over Gettysburg

Natalie Williams
Natalie Williams

HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's tennis team got off to a 1-0 start in Centennial Conference action with a 7-2 victory over Gettysburg on Saturday afternoon. The Fords, ranked No. 8 in the Atlantic South Region, went ahead 2-1 after doubles and added five more straight set victories in singles to start conference play on a positive note.

Renata DiDonato and Mima Khazanov got the Fords off to a quick start with their first win together as a doubles pairing. Haverford's No. 3 doubles team allowed just one game in total. Both No. 1 and No. 2 doubles finished in 8-4 finals as the two sides split those matches. Haverford got its win at No. 2 with the pairing of Natalie Williams and Ananya Prakash doubling up its opponents from the Bullets.

Ananya Prakash and Natalie Williams ended up being winners in both singles and doubles for the Fords. Williams won her match at No. 2 singles by a 6-3, 6-2 score for her second win of the year. Prakash needed a tiebreak win after a strong 6-2 opening set at No. 5 singles. Prakash won that tiebreak by a 7-4 margin for her second victory this year.

Emily Shutman and Clara Farrehi rebounded nicely from a tough match at No. 1 doubles as both players were victorious in singles. Shutman picked up the win at No. 1 singles for her second victory this spring. She racked up back-to-back 6-3 sets during her match. Farrehi, playing No. 4 singles, was a 6-2 winner in the first set before a 7-5 second put away her second win of the year.

Making her spring singles debut, Sarah Evenson allowed the fewest games of any player. She was a 6-2, 6-1 winner at No. 6 singles. Gettysburg's lone singles win came at No. 3 where Claire Johnson fell in a hard-fought 7-5 opening set before her opponent closed out the match during the second set.

Women's tennis will continue Centennial Conference play next week with a pair of road trips. The Fords make the quick trip over to Bryn Mawr this coming Wednesday for a 4 p.m. start before heading out to Franklin & Marshall next Saturday.