HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's tennis team opened up Centennial Conference play with a difficult test against defending champion Johns Hopkins. The No. 12 Blue Jays (5-2, 1-0 CC) showed off their national prowess on Saturday during a 9-0 win against the host Fords (3-4, 0-1 CC).

Haverford's closest match of the afternoon came in the top doubles slot. With each side's top doubles tandems squaring off, the opening match was tied at seven-all after 14 service games. Despite the valiant effort, the pairing of Robyn Himelstein and Abby Payson had its service broken while the Blue Jays held to claim the victory during the last two games.

The No. 2 pairing of Courtney Ahmed and Caroline Steliotes, along with the No. 3 team of Annika Ulrich and Stephany Prodromos, each won two games before Johns Hopkins went on to complete a sweep of doubles action.

The Fords continued to put up a fight in singles play. Himelstein once again provided the staunchest challenge from the No. 1 spot. The Fords' lone senior won two games in each set against Johns Hopkins' No. 1 player.

Haverford also won at least two games in one of the two sets during five different singles matches. Payson showed improvement in her match with two games won in the second set, while Ahmed won her two games in the first set and another in the second.

Prodromos and Ulrich continued this trend. Playing at No. 5, Prodromos collected her two games in the opening set, while Ulrich won her two games in the second set of the No. 6 singles. Steliotes also improved throughout her match with a game won in the second set.

Women's tennis will now close out the month of March with a Centennial Conference home date against Bryn Mawr. That local showdown is set for Wednesday at 4 p.m.