2012 Season Outlook

The Haverford College women's tennis team, coming off its third-straight Centennial Conference tournament appearance in 2011, looks to make its presence felt in the conference once again this season.  Despite the loss of three of the top four singles players from last year to graduation, the Fords' expectations of success endure.
 
Returnees: Hoping to build off successful freshmen campaigns, Alexandra Ferrara and Katherine Donches will serve as co-captains and anchor the starting line-up for Haverford. Ferrara, playing at No. 2 last season, and Donches, playing at No.5, each accumulated 13 wins at singles last season for the Fords. Celia Tong, Jordana Bloom, Abigail Flynn and Rachal Torg will figure prominently in the line-up. Tong earned eight victories between singles and doubles competition in 2011, while Bloom captured seven wins in singles action. Flynn won her only match of last season, at No.5 singles, in straight sets at McDaniel. Torg, seeing time in both singles and doubles action last season, tallied four wins.
 
Newcomers: Freshmen Caitlin Gallagher and Kristen Andersen will add strength to the middle of the line-up. Classmate Alyssa Lavin looks to figure in the mix as well. Gallagher will also pair with Ferrara to form a formidable No. 1 doubles team.

 

Schedule: Looking towards the goal of reaching the Centennial championship, head coach Ann Koger has filled the non-conference schedule with a myriad of tough Intercollegiate Tennis Associaton (ITA) regional standouts which will prepare the Fords for the rigorous Centennial slate. Salisbury University, Meredith College, College of New Jersey, Berry College, Wheaton College, and Christopher Newport University loom as tests in the non-conference portion of the schedule. Last year, six of the 11 conference teams, including Haverford, were ranked in the final ITA Atlantic South Region. According to Koger, conference action against Johns Hopkins, Washington, Swarthmore, Muhlenberg and Dickinson are always highly competitive meets.  Koger, who sees the level of play rising in the conference each season, comments "every team is getting better and it gets tougher each year to pull out a win."

Coach's Outlook: Coming off a season that that saw the program reach the 300-win plateau, Koger sees many attainable goals within reach and great possibilities for the Fords in 2012. "We are excited about the prospect of bettering our finish in the conference overall, vying for the conference championship and capturing the automatic qualifier in the 2012 NCAA tournament," offered Koger.  The season begins on Saturday as Haverford hosts Salisbury University at 3 p.m.

2010-11 Season Review

Signature Wins: The Fords and head coach Ann Koger won their 300th match with a 6-3 triumph over Meredith (N.C) College on March 10. After taking two of the three doubles matches, Alex Ferrara, Helen Fisun, Kate Donches and Jordana Bloom each won their singles match to secure the milestone win.  Haverford’s other big win came on April 7 in Bethlehem, Pa. On that day, Haverford traveled to eventual NCAA Tournament participant Moravian College and picked up a 6-3 win over the Greyhounds.

Season Notes:  The Fords recorded their first winning season since 2000. Haverford went 13-7 overall and qualified for the Centennial Conference championship tournament for the third straight season. Katie Wettick (No. 1), Alex Ferrara (No. 2), Helen Fisun (No. 3) and Kate Donches (No. 5) each won 13 singles matches for the Fords. In doubles play, the No. 2 team of Katie Drooyan and Donches won a team-high 15 times.

Postseason Awards: All-Centennial Conference: Katie Wettick (first team singles, second team doubles), Alex Ferrara (second team singles and doubles). Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll: Katie Drooyan, Celia Tong, Wettick

Looking Ahead:  The Fords will be affected by the graduation of Katie Wettick (No. 1 singles, No. 1 doubles), Katie Drooyan (No. 4 singles, No. 2 doubles) and Helen Fisun (No. 3 singles, No. 3 doubles). Alex Ferrara (No. 2 singles, No. 1 doubles) and Kate Donches (No. 5 singles, No. 2 doubles) will return to the Haverford line-up after successful freshman seasons. Ferrara was 13-3 as a singles players and Donches was 13-4.