HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's tennis team wrapped up non-conference play against No. 37 TCNJ on Friday evening inside the Alumni Field House. Even though it was the visiting Lions (16-4) that came away with a 9-0 victory, the Fords (7-7) showed great fight and played close throughout doubles before forcing three singles matches to go to a decisive third set.
Haverford's No. 2 doubles pairing of Natalie Williams and Ananya Prakash played the closest match of doubles as the Fords' middle pairing was edged out by an 8-6 score in the final games of that match. Claire Johnson and Sarah Evenson dropped a hard-fought 8-5 match at third doubles, while Emily Shutman and Clara Farrehi battled a regionally-ranked doubles team before falling by an 8-4 score.
Natalie Williams played a thrilling singles match in the second position as she nearly put the Fords on the scoreboard early into singles. After falling in her opening set, Williams rebounded with a 6-3 win in the second. Williams and her opponent split the first 12 points of their decisive third set, and even that tiebreak needed several extra points before the Lions were able to come away with a 12-10 victory.
Clara Farrehi and Claire Johnson also forced third sets in their respective matches at No. 3 and No. 4 singles. Both players stormed back after tough 6-4 first set defeats. Farrehi turned that 6-4 score around on her opponent in the second before falling 6-3 in the decisive set. Johnson won a challenging 7-5 second set before her opponent answered with a 6-1 win in the third.
Playing her second regionally-ranked opponent of the day, Emily Shutman was unable to replicate her regionally-ranked victory that she notched earlier in the week against Swarthmore. Shutman battled her opponent to extra games in the opening set before TCNJ's No. 1 player secured a 7-5 victory and eventually closed the match in the second. With the team score decided, Nos. 5 and 6 singles were played to eight-game pro sets. Just like her doubles match, Ananya Prakash gave her opponent all she could handle before a tough 8-6 defeat. Renata DiDonato won five games in the sixth spot of the lineup.
Women's tennis will wrap up the regular season on Saturday against Dickinson. That match, which is also Senior Day for the Fords, will get underway at 12 p.m.