Women's Tennis Finishes No. 13 in Atlantic South Region Rankings

Clara Farrehi (front) and Emily Shutman (back)
Clara Farrehi (front) and Emily Shutman (back)

ITA Atlantic South Region Rankings

HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's tennis team concluded its 2018-19 season ranked 13th in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Atlantic South Region team rankings. The Fords (8-8, 8-2 CC) fell only to nationally-ranked opposition throughout the entire spring season and advanced to the semifinals of the Centennial Conference Tournament after finishing third in the regular season standings.

This year-end ranking comes just one season after the Fords earned the program's first-ever national ranking to close the 2017-18 season under head coach Andrew Cohn. Haverford was ranked as high as No. 8 in the region throughout the 2018-19 season.

The Fords really found their stride in Centennial Conference play, setting a program record with 10 straight Centennial Conference regular season victories dating back to the 2018 season. Haverford started Centennial Conference play with seven consecutive victories and was tied for first place in the conference standings with Johns Hopkins and Swarthmore heading into the final weeks of the regular season.

Haverford has made the Centennial Conference Tournament in three straight years and 10 of the last 11 overall. The Fords have made it to at least the semifinal round of the conference tournament during all but one of those playoff appearances. Included in that stretch are championship match appearances in 2014 and 2018. Emily Shutman was a first-team All-Centennial Conference performer in singles for the Fords while she joined Clara Farrehi in earning second-team All-CC recognition for their doubles play.

Shutman was one of three players who won a team-high eight singles matches this year as she joined Farrehi and Claire Johnson in accomplishing that feat. Farrehi and Natalie Williams both tied for the team lead with seven wins in doubles with various playing partners.

Women's tennis appears poised for continued success in the coming seasons as the Fords return their top five players from the regular season singles lineup. In addition to the aforementioned returning players, Ananya Prakash – who was named to the Centennial Conference All-Sportsmanship Team this spring after playing No. 5 singles and No. 2 doubles – is also slated to return to next year's team.