SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The Haverford College women's tennis team was unable to replicate its postseason theatrics of a season ago as the Fords dropped a hard-fought 5-1 match against No. 25 Swarthmore on Saturday afternoon during the Centennial Conference semifinals. Emily Shutman won No. 1 singles for the second straight match against the rival Garnet in an overall team battle that was much closer than the regular season matchup when these rivals squared off.
Shutman, the Fords' junior co-captain, got her win at No. 1 singles by a 7-5, 6-2 score for Haverford's team point. Today's victory comes just over a week after Shutman recorded the first regionally-ranked win of her singles career when these teams met during the regular season. Shutman caps her junior campaign tied with Claire Johnson and fellow co-captain Clara Farrehi for the team lead with eight singles victories. After studying abroad during the fall semester, Shutman closed the year on a two-match winning streak.
Host and second-seeded Swarthmore got off to a strong start with a 3-0 lead after doubles. The tightest match of the early action came at No. 3 doubles where Ananya Prakash and Natalie Williams fell by a tough 8-6 score. At No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, the pairing of Emily Shutman/Clara Farrehi and Jane Bary/Anne Tobin both collected four games before Swarthmore finished the early sweep of doubles play.
Playing the match to decision, the Garnet sealed the team victory with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 singles. Natalie Williams bounced back from a tough opening set with a 6-3 second set in the second spot in the lineup. Co-captain Jane Bary entered the singles lineup at No. 3 and played both of her sets to extra games before falling by a 7-5, 7-6 (4) score.
Today's match brings the 2019 spring season to a close as the Fords finished the year with an 8-8 overall record (8-2 CC). Challenging themselves throughout the spring, each of Haverford's defeats came to nationally-ranked opponents.
Looking ahead, women's tennis will return a strong nucleus that should keep the Fords near the top of the Centennial Conference standings. Nevertheless, seniors Jane Bary and Renata DiDonato will graduate from the program as strong contributors throughout the entire careers. During their time with the Fords, the team has reached the playoffs each of the last three seasons. That run includes the program's second all-time appearance in the Centennial Conference Championship match during the 2018 season.