HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's tennis team has made the Centennial Conference Tournament in 10 of the past 11 seasons, including each of the last three years. The Fords went 8-8 overall in 2019, including an 8-2 record in Centennial Conference play as each of the team's defeats came to nationally-ranked opponents. With another challenging schedule awaiting the team this spring, the Fords will play seven home duals and make a trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina during the week of spring break.
The Fords hit the ground running this coming semester as the February 16 dual at The College of New Jersey will mark the earliest start to the spring competition schedule in program history. TCNJ finished as the No. 39-ranked team in Division III a season ago. The Fords will then have three more weeks of practice before traveling to South Carolina for a schedule that will be announced in the coming weeks.
When the team returns from spring break, Centennial Conference matches begin on Saturday, March 21 at Gettysburg as the Fords start conference action with a playoff qualifier from last spring. Haverford will also travel to Muhlenberg (Apr. 1), McDaniel (Apr. 11), Swarthmore (Apr. 21), and Dickinson (Apr. 29). The matchup with rival Swarthmore will mark a rematch of Haverford's last two Centennial Conference semifinal appearances. The Fords won the 2018 playoff contest to advance to the Centennial Conference Championship match for the second time in program history while the Garnet emerged victorious last spring.
In addition to home Centennial Conference matchups against Bryn Mawr (Mar. 24), Franklin & Marshall (Mar. 28), Ursinus (Apr. 7), Washington College (Apr. 15), and Johns Hopkins (Apr. 18), the Fords will host Salisbury (Apr. 4) and Stevens (Apr. 10) in non-conference action. Salisbury finished last season ranked 14th in the Atlantic South Region while the Fords were one spot ahead at No. 13. Johns Hopkins and Franklin & Marshall also joined Haverford in the Centennial Conference playoffs last year. The Blue Jays enter this spring having won the last 13 CC Championships.
Haverford returns each of its top five players from last year's singles lineup and each of its three regular doubles pairings. Emily Shutman was a first-team All-Centennial Conference performer in singles last season and paired up with Clara Farrehi to form a second-team All-CC doubles team. In addition to the all of the returning talent, first-year Isa Cossio made her collegiate debut this fall in the ITA Championship Singles draw.