Softball, Tennis Programs Defend Conference Crowns in Dominant Fashion
Over the weekend, the Swarthmore softball team and men's and women's tennis programs successfully defended their Centennial Conference (CC) titles on home turf and earned berths into their respective NCAA national tournaments.
It was the fourth consecutive CC crown for men's tennis, while softball and women's tennis each won their second in a row.
On the diamond, the 22nd-ranked Garnet opened the postseason on Clothier Field with an 8-0 blanking of Haverford and reached the championship of the double-elimination tournament after a 3-1 win over Muhlenberg. Swarthmore, however, only needed one chance to claim the trophy and did so with a 12-1 rout of Haverford on Sunday afternoon.
The Garnet are the first team in Centennial history to win consecutive titles since the conference moved to a tournament format in 2001.
Pitcher Lilly Goldberg ’28 was named the Centennial Tournament Most Valuable Player, going 3-0 with a 0.47 ERA, six strikeouts, and two walks. She was the winner in all three of Swarthmore's postseason contests, tossing two complete games with one shutout. The sophomore also allowed just one run and 12 hits over 15.0 innings.
The Garnet, which own a 33-8 record and an active 12-game winning streak, will learn of their tournament path when the selection show airs on Monday, May 11.
The seventh-ranked men's tennis team dispatched its opponents with ease, winning 4-0 in both the semifinals and finals en route to a fourth consecutive conference title.
In the championship match against Haverford, Andrés Fente ’26 secured the clinching point at fifth singles and was named the Centennial Tournament Most Valuable Player. He went a perfect 4-0 across the Garnet's two postseason matches and conceded just six total games in his four sets of singles play.
Swarthmore carries a 20-6 record into the postseason and will begin with a bye before hosting the winner of Allegheny College and Penn State Behrend in the second round. The Garnet are looking to improve on last year's result, a narrow loss to eventual national champion Denison University in the round of 16.
The 16th-ranked women's tennis program took a similar path to their CC title, beating Washington College (Md.) and Haverford in the semifinals and finals, respectively, by 4-0 scores.
Lola Diaz ’26 was awarded Tournament Most Valuable Player honors, logging a pair of wins at top doubles and singles, respectively. The senior picked up two key victories in the championship matchup, including the doubles clincher.
The Garnet enter the national tournament with a 15-6 record and will face Simmons University in the first round on the campus of Amherst College.
