FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The Haverford College women's tennis team sent record numbers of individuals into the championship singles and doubles draws at USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championships on Saturday. The Fords' seven representatives in championship singles, plus two pairings in championship doubles, were highlighted by Robyn Himelstein's run to the Round of 32 in singles Saturday afternoon.
Himelstein, the lone senior on the Fords' team, opened her final ITA regional with a convincing win over Ursinus' Ashley Nguyen. Himelstein blanked her opponent in the opening set before rolling to the straight set victory with a 6-2 win in the second. However, her championship run came to an end with a 6-1, 6-2 defeat at the hands of fifth-seeded Natalie Savage from Salisbury.
Greta Koch nearly joined her teammate in the Round of 32 Saturday afternoon. Koch forced a decisive third set in her match with Elizabethtown's Taylor Heisel following a 6-2 win in the second set. However, Heisel recorded a 6-3 win in the final set to advance after she was a 6-4 winner in the first set.
Also playing in the championship singles draw were Courtney Ahmed, Renata DiDonato, Rory Lewis, Caroline Steliotes, and Jia-Ling Tuan. Those five players will join Koch in the consolation bracket of championship singles which begins on Sunday morning. Emily Chazen will also be in action in the Blue 1 Singles consolation draw after back-to-back 6-3 set defeats in her opening match on Saturday.
The Fords also had two doubles teams in the championship doubles draw. Himelstein and Koch were edged out by Johns Hopkins' fifth-seeded duo of Megumi Chen and Jody Law, 8-4. Lewis and Tuan were unable to play their first doubles match against the top seeded pairing in the draw due to illness. Those two pairings will be back in consolation action on Sunday morning. Ahmed and DiDonato, along with Chazen and Steliotes, were in Blue 1 and Blue 3 doubles action on Saturday. Those results were unavailable as of press time.
Sunday's action at the regional tournament will begin at 8 a.m. with the Fords' two doubles pairings in the championship doubles draw taking the court. A full schedule of tomorrow's scheduled action for the Fords is available below.
Singles
Courtney Ahmed – Championship Singles
Round of 64: Lost vs. #6 Nicholle Torres (Carnegie Mellon), 6-0, 6-3
Consolation Round 1: vs. Krista Filiopoulos (Washington College) (Sunday, 11:30 a.m.)
Renata DiDonato – Championship Singles
Round of 64: Lost vs. Allison Wolters (F&M), 6-0, 6-0
Consolation Round 1: vs. Emily Morgan (Mary Washington) (Sunday, 11 a.m.)
Robyn Himelstein – Championship Singles
Round of 64: Won vs. Ashley Nguyen (Ursinus), 6-0, 6-2
Round of 32: Lost vs. #5 Natalie Savage (Salisbury), 6-1, 6-2
Greta Koch – Championship Singles
Round of 64: Lost vs. Taylor Heisel (Elizabethtown), 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
Consolation Round 1: vs. Rachel Hechinger (Swarthmore) (Sunday, 11 a.m.)
Rory Lewis – Championship Singles
Round of 64: Lost vs. Taylor Diffley (Mary Washington), 6-2, 6-1
Consolation Round 1: vs. Mary Shutley (Washington & Lee), (Sunday, 12 p.m.)
Caroline Steliotes – Championship Singles
Round of 64: Lost vs. Julia Gokhberg (Swarthmore), 6-2, 6-3
Consolation Round 1: vs. Lauren Lucas (Juniata) (Sunday, 11:30 a.m.)
Jia-Ling Tuan – Championship Singles
Round of 64: Lost vs. Caitlin Rummelsburg (F&M), walkover
Consolation Round 1: vs. #9 Katie Carlson (Christopher Newport) (Sunday, 12:20 p.m.)
Emily Chazen – Blue 1 Singles
Round of 16: Lost vs. Jamie Rosenblum (Muhlenberg), 6-3, 6-3
Consolation Round 1: vs. Tara Buchney (F&M) (Sunday, 11 a.m.)
Doubles
Robyn Himelstein/Greta Koch – Championship Doubles
Round of 32: Lost vs. #5 Megumi Chen/Jody Law (Johns Hopkins), 8-4
Consolation Round 1: vs. Katie Lai/Marina Selenica (Carnegie Mellon) (Sunday, 8 a.m.)
Aurora Lewis/Jia-Ling Tuan – Championship Doubles
Round of 32: Lost vs. #1 Kait Brogan/Shelby Harris (Mary Washington), walkover
Consolation Round 1: vs. Julie Lazer/Rachelle Martinez (Washington College) (Sunday, 8 a.m.)
Courtney Ahmed/Renata DiDonato – Blue 1 Doubles
Round of 16: vs. Ashley Gao/Rachel Hechinger (Swarthmore) (Saturday, 1 p.m.)
Emily Chazen/Caroline Steliotes – Blue 3 Doubles
Round of 16: vs. Shivani Gupta/Amanda Izes (Swarthmore) (Saturday, 4 p.m.)