Women's Tennis Downs Catholic, Gordon during Opening Matches in South Carolina

Natalie Williams
Natalie Williams

HILTON HEAD, S.C. – The Haverford College women's tennis team opened up its trip to South Carolina with a pair of strong showings as the Fords posted an 8-1 victory over Catholic and a 9-0 blanking of Gordon on Sunday. Haverford's wins were its first two of the spring season after a hard-fought 5-4 battle against nationally-ranked TCNJ back in the middle of February.

The Fords (2-1) used the same doubles lineups for both matches and were rewarded for that consistency with a perfect 6-0 record. Anne Tobin and Natalie Williams played No. 1 doubles together and won both of their matches while allowing just seven games. Lisette Pham and Emily Shutman improved to a perfect 3-0 together this spring at No. 2 doubles. That pairing won by 8-3 and 8-2 scores in the respective matches. Sarah Evenson and Clara Farrehi notched back-to-back 8-2 victories at No. 3 doubles.

Switching up the singles lineup slightly between the two matches, Emily Shutman, Isa Cossio, and Claire Johnson were in both matchups and posted 2-0 records. Even with the variance in players, the Fords won 11 of the 12 singles matches as 10 of those victories came in straight sets.

Shutman played No. 1 singles in both matches and allowed just six games total as she improved to 3-0 this spring and 7-2 overall dating back to the fall. Cossio played No. 2 singles in the win against Catholic and allowed just one single game at No. 3 against Gordon. Haverford's first-year is off to a 3-0 start during her spring singles campaign. Claire Johnson filled the No. 4 slot against Catholic where she was a 6-2, 6-1 winner before not allowing a single game to her opponent from Gordon at No. 5 singles. Johnson is now 7-3 overall in singles dating back to the fall.

Lisette Pham moved into the lineup at No. 2 singles against Gordon and she did not allow a game during the second match of the afternoon. Natalie Williams (6-1, 6-1) and Anne Tobin (6-2, 6-0) allowed just two games to their opponents from Gordon with strong showings at No. 4 and No. 6 in the singles lineup.

Clara Farrehi won Haverford's only three-set match of the day at No. 3 singles against Catholic. After falling behind early, Haverford's co-captain forced a decisive third set with a 6-4 win in the second. As the team score was already decided, Farrehi capped her lone singles match by allowing just four points in the 10-point tiebreak. Ananya Prakash made the most of her only match at No. 5 singles against Catholic, winning 6-2, 6-0. Liv Pindzola played No. 6 singles for the Fords in the morning matchup against Catholic, dropping a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3 battle during her spring singles debut.

Women's tennis will have Monday off from competition before returning to the courts to take on Berry Tuesday in a matchup of teams from last year's regional rankings. First serves in that match are set for 12 p.m. noon back at the Evian Tennis Center.