HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Centennial Conference has announced its women's tennis postseason awards release, with Haverford well represented on the All-Conference squads. Sophomore Abbey Russano, Haverford's first NCAA individual championship qualifier since the 1988 season, was named to first-team singles honors, while first year Ellie Esterowitz and sophomore Mimi Lavin were each named to the second team singles honors. The doubles pairing of senior Anne Tobin and first year Rachael Fitzgerald joined the Esterowitz/Russano pairing in earning second-team doubles recognition.
Russano earned the Centennial Conference honors after a 10-6 record during the dual match season, including a 6-2 mark in Centennial Conference play. Moving into the top flight, Russano made her mark with a 6-1 record at No. 1 singles this season. In the Centennial Conference semifinals on Saturday, the Bridgewater, N.J. product added a big regionally-ranked win over Jenny Lewis of Swarthmore, rallying in three (0-6, 6-1, 6-2) after dropping the first set. Russano, of Bridgewater, N.J. is currently the No. 21 ranked player in the Atlantic South and will continue her season into the NCAA tournament as an individual.
Esterowitz, of Rockville, Md. was an impressive 12-4 in her rookie dual match season, including a perfect 8-0 mark in Centennial Conference matches. She went 5-0 at the third flight and 3-0 at the fifth flight in singles action during the CC season to wrap up the honors as Haverforde earned a berth in the CC semifinals, a fourth consecutive postseason trip for the program.
Lavin, of Boca Raton, Fla. was 13-3 during the dual match season, logging an 8-1 mark in CC play. The sophomore went 4-0 at the top two flights and settled into the number three spot on the ladder, going 9-3 in those matches while finishing the season on an impressie eight match winning streak.
In doubles, the team of Tobin (Baltimore, Md.) and Fitzgerald (Waterford, Va.) was routinely called upon to go up against what the opponent's best had to offer. The team went 5-8 during the dual-match season, with four of those wins coming at the top flight. The pairing of Esterowitz and Russano played mainly as the second or third pairing, going 6-1 in conference play on the season. This is the first time since the 1994 season that Haverford has placed multiple team members on the all-conference doubles team.