Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Women's Tennis Team

HAVERFORD, Pa. – Abby Payson has been named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team. The College's William W. Ambler '45 recipient is earning this honor for the first time in her career. The honorees are voted on by the sports information offices of the 29 area institutions from the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

In order to be eligible for Academic All-Area honors, an athlete must be in at least his or her second year at the institution and hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 or better.

Payson served a co-captain for the women's tennis team as both a junior and senior. The Fords returned to the postseason in 2017 and finished the year as the No. 13 team in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Atlantic South Region. The recent graduate of Haverford played primarily at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles for the Fords. She had eight wins to her credit in singles and six more victories in doubles.

She was honored with the Ambler Award which is presented to the senior student-athlete at Haverford who graduates with the highest cumulative grade point average. Throughout her career, Payson been selected to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll and named an ITA Scholar-Athlete during each of her eligible seasons.

Payson is joined on the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Women's Tennis Team by West Chester's Maddy Shaak, Temple's Alina Abdurakhimova, Penn's Kana Daniel, Gwynedd Mercy's Kristen Kriebel, and Drexel's Lea Winkler.