ORLANDO, Fla. – The Haverford College women's tennis team saw its 10 match winning streak in Florida - which dated back to the 2013 season and preceded more than half of the current team - come to an end on Wednesday morning with a hard-fought 6-3 loss against Methodist College. However, the Fords (3-1) were quick to start another winning streak as they bounced back with an 8-1 victory against Northwestern College.
Wednesday's opening match was a battle of two very close teams in the ITA Atlantic South Regional rankings. The Fords entered the day at No. 12, while Methodist was just behind in the 14th slot of the rankings. Haverford got an early 2-1 advantage by claiming the first two doubles positions.
Methodist took the first doubles match to finish up play with an 8-3 victory at No. 3 doubles. The Fords' No. 3 pairing of Jia-Ling Tuan and Courtney Ahmed would come back strong with an 8-0 blanking of their opponents in Wednesday's second match.
The Fords evened the score with an 8-6 victory at No. 2 doubles from Jessica Liu and Abby Payson. Haverford carried a 2-1 advantage into singles against Methodist as Greta Koch and Robyn Himelstein pulled out a 9-7 victory at No. 1 singles. The team of Koch and Himelstein came away 8-1 winners in the match against Northwestern College.
Methodist took back the lead with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 singles. At No. 3 singles, Tuan bounced back from the first match quickly and allowed just one game to her opponent from Northwestern in the evening match. Methodist took the 3-2 lead with a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the second doubles slot.
Methodist pushed the Fords to the brink of defeat following a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 6 singles. Nevertheless, Haverford turned to its lone senior, Himelstein, for stability. The senior leader won the No. 1 singles match to put her team back in the match with a 7-5, 6-1 decision. Himelstein also won her singles match in the second position against Northwestern College for her own personal 2-0 singles day.
Looking to keep the match alive, Payson was denied a victory at No. 4 singles in back-to-back 6-4 sets. She came back in the evening stronger than ever with back-to-back 6-0 blankings of her opponent from Northwestern. With the team score decided, a retirement due to injury would be how this match ended. After winning her first set, Liu was looking for a straight set victory. The captain had the set tied at five-all before her injury in what turned out to be Methodist's sixth point in the final match on court.
With Liu out of the lineup for the second match of the evening, Ahmed bumped up to No. 5 singles where she won a 6-2, 6-1 match. Caroline Steliotes filled the No. 6 singles spot in the evening and did not allow a game to her opponent. With her doubles partner out, Payson teamed up with Stephany Prodromos for No. 3 doubles. That pairing showed no signs of unfamiliarity as the duo won 8-3.
After its only scheduled date with two matches this week, women's tennis will now have its only off day of the week on Thursday. The team returns to action on Friday for its final match in Florida against Colorado College. First serve in that match is scheduled for 8 a.m.