HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College women's tennis team celebrated its Senior Day with a 6-3 win against Dickinson on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Already locked into the third seed, the Fords continued to show great skill as they get set for the postseason next weekend.
Haverford jumped in front with a 2-1 advantage after doubles. Senior Jane Bary made her return to the lineup and joined first-year Anne Tobin for an 8-6 win in the third flight. That match proved crucial as it ultimately gave Haverford the early lead heading into singles. Haverford's No. 1 pairing of Emily Shutman and Clara Farrehi won their fifth Centennial Conference doubles match together this spring. The Red Devils salvaged their lone doubles point with an 8-5 win in the middle of the lineup.
The Fords clinched the match with a dominating performance at the top of the singles lineup as they surrendered just eight games at Nos. 1-4 singles. Claire Johnson allowed just one game during a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 4. Johnson finished the regular season at 5-3 in conference singles matches.
Both Emily Shutman and Clara Farrehi were 6-0, 6-2 winners. Playing No. 3 singles, Farrehi finished a team-best 7-2 in Centennial Conference singles play during the regular season and is now tied with Johnson for the team lead with eight victories. Shutman won her sixth conference match at No. 1 singles this spring with her latest victory and now owns seven singles wins during the spring.
Natalie Williams secured a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 2 singles and finished the regular season with a winning 5-4 record inside the conference. Senior Renata DiDonato dropped a heart-breaking 10-point tiebreak to deny the Fords a seventh team point. She won a dominant 6-1 second set before falling 10-8 in the tiebreak. The Red Devils also got a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles to wrap up their season.
Women's tennis will now turn its attention to the Centennial Conference Tournament. The Fords are the No. 3 seed and will travel to Swarthmore next Saturday. The start time of that match will be determined Monday morning. In each of the previous two seasons where Haverford finished third in the Centennial Conference regular season standings, the Fords picked up an upset in the semifinals and advanced to the championship match. That most recent occurrence came just last season when the same two teams met in the CC semifinals.