GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The No. 36 ranked Haverford women's tennis team (12-6, 7-2 CC) looked poised in its 8-1 victory over host Gettysburg (9-10, 3-6 CC) on Saturday at the Bullets Tennis Courts, heading into the Centennial Conference tournament as the number three seed.
The action began in doubles with the third pairing of Ellie Esterowitz and Abbey Russano delivering a blanking of Tierney Cantwell and Shelby Deron (8-0). The second pairing of Summer Williams and Mimi Lavin then coasted past Sarah Guistwite and Julia Gowland by an 8-2 final before the top-flight pairing of Rachael Fitzgerald and Anne Tobin guided past Gillian Rozenfield and Catherine Haley (8-4) to wrap up doubles play in emphatic fashion.
With a 3-0 lead after doubles, the Fords just needed two match wins and found that clincher while surrendering just one game in the first two singles matches to reach their completion. The first matchup to finish at number three saw Lavin blank Alex Rieg (6-0, 6-0) before Esterowitz delivered the clincher at four (6-1, 6-0) with a methodical victory over Kate Alianiello. With the match decision now in hand, Fitzgerald calmly defeated Rozenfeld in straight sets at number two (6-2, 6-0) and Annie Barrett then allowed just two games in her win over Alexis Rinker (6-1, 6–1).
Gettysburg got a late tally in its column as Catherine Haley turned away Liv Pindzola at the sixth flight (6-2, 6-3), but Haverford got its eighth match victory at number one as Russano prevailed in a first-set tiebreaker over Guistwite 7-6 (7-4) before taking the second set by a straightforward 6-1 decision.
Haverford has now won seven consecutive conference matches, a streak dating back to April 5 against Washington College. The Fords are 21-6 all-time against Gettysburg, including a 9-3 mark on the road. Haverford has won every match up with the Bullets since 2007.
With the conclusion of regular season matches around the Centennial Conference on Saturday afternoon, Haverford will now face rival Swarthmore in the No. 2 vs No. 3 seed semifinal on Saturday. The start time of that semifinal contest is expected to be announced on Monday.