Team History
Women's tennis was Haverford's fifth sport for women, adopted in 1982 when only the first- and second-year classes at Haverford were fully coed.
By 1985, Haverford hosted the NCAA Division III women's tennis championship, thanks to a newly-installed indoor surface. In that event, two Fords -- Patty Dinella '86 and Amanda Figland '88 -- were among the significant achievers. In their quest to accomplish their own goals, current players look back on such alumnae as role models for success. Dinella, a two-time AIAW regional All-American and two-time ITA All-American, was the Philadelphia AIAW's most outstanding tennis player all four years and has the college's best all-time record in singles and doubles. Four-time conference all-star and 1987 MAC champion Figland was nationally ranked all four years, an ITA All-American for two years and her record at Haverford is second all-time only to her teammate's.
As seniors, both players won the Varsity Cup, Haverford's highest athletic honor.Conference champion in 1989, Marcelle Siegel '92 and all-conference performers Allison Cohen '93, Laura Malfitano '93 and Kate Maggiotto '97 have all succeeded in life after college as well. Siegel is a doctoral candidate, Cohen is a lawyer, Malfitano is a doctor and Maggiotto is in graduate school. Outstanding HC tennis alumnae include Vicky Mazurczyk '84, Jenny Wentz '85, Katy Kamen '86, Jessica Barest '88, Kara Segreto '88, Dorothy Rosenbaum '88, Lara Wozniak '90, Rupali Chandar '91, Laura Legate '91, Indya Kincannon '93, Lauren Green '94, Jen Omaña '95, Claudette Pirwitz '95, Tammy Richman '95, Debi Garlin '96, Crissy Gutierrez '96, Jennifer Jacobson '99, Karin Werner '99, Taleen Vartan '02 and Alyssa Kennedy '02. Team members such Corinne Ellison Dial '99 and Kaley Klanica '00 were major contributors to the development of the team's homepage on the Web.
In its nine-year Centennial Conference history, the Fords have consistently challenged for the top, winning well over 70 percent of their matches and turning out many all-league performers. Alyssa Kennedy won the Centennial Conference Singles Championship in 2000, and Kennedy teamed with Anya Moyston to continue the Fords' tradition of league success by winning the Centennial Conference Women's Doubles Championship in 2002. In recognition of her accomplishments in 2002, Alyssa Kennedy earned first team all-conference honors in both singles and doubles and finished the year ranked 21st in singles and 11th in doubles (with Moyston) in the ITA Atlantic South Region. The women's tennis team, in 2002, was ranked 17th in the NCAA Division III Atlantic South Region.
Haverford plays its matches on the hard-surface Bramall/Marshall Courts behind the main grandstand on Walton Field, moving indoors to Alumni Field House in inclement weather.