Full Centennial Conference Release
HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College women's tennis team placed four members of the squad on the All-Centennial Conference teams, the conference office announced in its annual postseason awards release.
Abbey Russano and Ellie Esterowitz each picked up first-team All-Centennial honors as singles players, as well as for their doubles pairing, while Mimi Lavin was named second-team singles. Rachael Fitzgerald was additionally named to the All-Centennial Conference Sportsmanship team.
Russano, a product of Bridgewater, N.J., was a second-team selection in singles last season and reclaimed first-team honors after achieving them as a sophomore in 2022. She was a standout for the Fords this season with a 10-5 overall record, including an 8-4 mark during the dual-match season, appearing exclusively at the top flight.
She secured key victories over Lola Diaz of No. 27 Swarthmore during the regular season matchup, and again during the CC tournament. Another significant win came against Peyton Oda of No. 25 Denison to conclude Haverford's spring break stint. Russano reached No. 17 in the Atlantic South regional rankings and was named Player of the Week twice this season. First, on March 19 after a 4-1 mark in singles and a 5-0 mark in doubles during Haverford's spring trip to Florida, and again on April 22 as she went 2-0 in both singles and doubles, contributing to crucial Centennial wins over Swarthmore and F&M.
Esterowitz, hailing from Rockville, Md., ascended to first-team honors for the second consecutive season after also representing the Fords on the first team last season. The junior posted an 11-6 overall record, including an unblemished 4-0 conference mark during the dual-match season. She was 8-4 overall, appearing exclusively at the second flight, and concluded the season on a 7-3 streak. Esterowitz reached as high as No. 14 in the Atlantic South regional rankings and secured a notable win over Sydney Langer of No. 7 Johns Hopkins on April 14, prevailing in a tiebreaker, followed by a victory over Kathleen Shiffer of No. 27 Swarthmore in straight sets on April 17.
Russano and Esterowitz excelled in doubles play together this season, earning the first-team nod after compiling a 14-4 overall record, including an 11-3 mark in the dual-match season and 6-0 during conference play. The pairing was ranked in the Atlantic South, reaching as high as number eight, and were the top-ranked pairing in Region III in the latest NCAA regional rankings release prior to conference championship weekend. Key victories included wins over the top-flight pairings from nationally-ranked squads Denison, Mary Washington, and Christopher Newport, as well as the 10th-ranked pairing in the region from No. 7 Johns Hopkins (Jay Xiaco and Sophia Kim).
Mimi Lavin was named a second-team All-Conference selection after posting a 15-3 overall record this season, including a 13-1 mark in the dual-match season. Lavin was perfect in CC play with a 6-0 record. The Boca Raton, Fla. native achieved victories over Jay Xiao of Johns Hopkins and Jenny Lewis of Swarthmore. She also secured a win over Ella Strickler of No. 32 Swarthmore, prevailing in a tiebreaker, and concluded the season with nine consecutive singles wins. Her only spring season loss during singles play was to Caroline Lopez of No. 25 Denison.
Fitzgerald, from Waterford, Va., earned an All-Sportsmanship nod after three Centennial Conference wins. Fitzgerald claimed victory at No. 1 singles against Washington College on April 23 and also secured wins over opponents from Gettysburg and Bryn Mawr during the CC campaign.
Women's tennis concluded the 2023-24 team season with a sixth consecutive trip to the Centennial Conference semifinals, earning the No. 2 overall seed and hosting privileges for the matchup, where the Fords fell to Swarthmore. Haverford compiled a 10-6 overall record and a 7-1 mark in conference play.