Centennial Conference Championships Central
HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's tennis team (12-6, 7-2 CC) is back in the Centennial Conference tournament as the No. 3 seed after posting a 7-2 record in Centennial play during the regular season. No stranger to the three seed, Haverford has reached the Centennial Conference final following a regular season with a third-place finish in the regular season standings on two occasions, including the 2018 season.
Haverford heads out to second-seeded Swarthmore on Saturday (3 p.m.), looking to reverse the decision from the regular season with the rival Garnet. In what is always a spirited match during the regular season with Hood Trophy points on the line, the Garnet came away with a 6-3 win in the first conference match of the year for the Fords on March 30. The Fords built from that moment, dropping just a 5-4 decision to Johns Hopkins on April 2 and a 5-4 decision to TCNJ on April 23. Haverford has rattled off seven consecutive CC wins to end the regular season.
Haverford will be making its fourth consecutive CC tournament appearance and the Fords have qualified for the CC tournament a total of 11 times during the 12 past editions of the postseason tournament. Haverford enters the weekend in a good position within the regional rankings. Among Atlantic South competition in the ITA rankings, Haverford checks in as the No. 9 team entering play on Saturday. Abbey Russano is No. 21 in the individual Atlantic South rankings.
In the NCAA rankings, which comprise different and more numerous regions from the ITA, Haverford enters third in Region III while Abbey Russano (No. 7) and Rachael Fitzgerald (No. 8) are ranked in singles. These NCAA regional rankings will ultimately lead to the selection of At-Large berths to the NCAA tournament. The doubles pairing of Ellie Esterowitz and Abbey Russano checks in No. 6 in the region while the team of Fitzgerald and Anne Tobin is considered "in consideration" for inclusion in the rankings by the regional committee.
Russano (12-6), Haverford's top flight singles player, will help lead the charge against the Garnet while Fitzgerald (11-7), Mimi Lavin (14-4), Esterowitz (14-4), Summer Williams (13-4), and Emily Oh (6-6) make up the rest of the top six in the lineup submitted to the Centennial Conference office for the tournament weekend. The doubles pairings of Tobin/Fitzgerald (7-7), Russano/Esterowitz (8-5), and Lavin/Williams (4-0) will hope to give the Fords an early lead at Swarthmore.
Top-seeded Johns Hopkins and fifth-seeded Washington College will play in the other semifinal in Baltimore with that same 3 p.m. start time. The two semifinal winners will play in Sunday's championship match which is also slated for 3 p.m. first serve.
Live stats for all Centennial Conference Tournament matches this weekend will be available through the tournament central link at the top of this article. In addition, video from Swarthmore's indoor courts and Johns Hopkins' outdoor courts is available throughout the weekend.
Fords Fans are encouraged to follow @HCFords_Sports on Twitter and @HCFordsSports on Instagram for the latest updates on postseason action.