SWARTHMORE, Pa. - In the Centennial Conference opener for both teams, the No. 35 Haverford Women's Tennis team (5-4) was edged by No. 26 Swarthmore (6-1) indoors at the Michael Mullan Tennis Center on the Swarthmore campus, falling by a 6-3 final to the Garnet. 

The doubles team of Abbey Russano and Ellie Esterowitz got the Fords out on the right foot against the Garnet, taking a commanding 8-1 decision over the pairing of Spencer Watts and Daniela Padron-Castillo. The Garnet battled back to take the top-flight doubles decision with Crystal Xu and Nathalie Williams earning the 8-2 win over Anne Tobin and Rachael Fitzgerald. 

With the match lead after doubles coming down to the No. 2 flight, it was Emily Oh and Mimi Lavin locked in a battle with Sonia Varma and Erica Stutz. The Swarthmore pairing prevailed in a tiebreak, 10-7, to take an 8-7 match win and hand Swarthmore the lead heading into singles action. 

In singles, it was Williams getting the better of Russano to pad the Swarthmore lead to 3-1 with a 6-3, 6-3 decision in straight sets to start things off. The hosts looked to be in strong position with Jenny Lewis besting Fitzgerald 6-2, 6-1 at the top flight, earning a quick 4-1 lead. Lavin had other plans, rallying back from a 6-2 first set loss to grab a 6-3 win in the second, prevailing 10-3 in the superbreaker for a crucial tally in the Haverford column. 

At the fourth flight, Emily Oh fought back from a first-set loss to even things against Oviya Kumaran, but Kumaran prevailed in the superbreaker by a 10-6 final to clinch the match for the Garnet. 

With the match decision in hand, Esterowitz grabbed a comeback win over Erica Stutuz, rallying from a first set loss to take the second set and prevail in the superbreaker for Haverford's third tally of the day. Summer Williams was defeated at the sixth flight by Padron-Castillo (7-5, 6-1). 

Swarthmore gets a crucial tally in the Hood Trophy series, pulling the series even at 5.5 points each, with baseball, softball, men's and women's lacrosse and men's and women's outdoor track & field still to be decided in the annual all-sports rivalry matchup. 

The slate gets no easier for the Fords as another ranked Centennial Conference battle is on tap against a formidable No. 23 Johns Hopkins team. First serve at home on the Marshall Courts is currently slated for 11 a.m.