Niki Clement enters her 17th season as Haverford College’s head men’s and women’s varsity squash coach in 2026-27. During her tenure, the Fords have captured three men’s division titles and two women’s division titles, including the men’s program lifting the Conroy Cup championship trophy in 2025-26.
Following a historic 2025-26 campaign, another banner was raised at the GIAC squash courts after the historic Conroy Cup title. The men’s team defeated Connecticut College, 7-2, in the championship match at the College Squash Association (CSA) Team Divisional Championships, securing Haverford’s first team championship since 2017. The Fords finished 9-13 overall, drawing on contributions from veteran leaders and emerging underclassmen throughout the lineup.
Qianzhi Zhao clinched the decisive fifth point in the championship match and earned All-Liberty League First Team honors after compiling a 14-8 record, including a perfect 4-0 mark at the CSA championships. Dean Ibrahim and Aaryaman Jaising earned Second Team recognition, while three additional Fords received Honorable Mention, giving Haverford a conference-best six selections.
Clement also guided a young women’s squad through a competitive 2025-26 season. The Fords finished 7-12 overall and climbed as high as No. 27 in the CSA national rankings, building a strong foundation for the future. Amy Saxon capped her senior season with All-Liberty League First Team honors, while Madeline Bulbulia, Zoe Liu, and Joelle Phuah also earned All-Liberty League recognition.
The Conroy Cup championship added to a history of achievement for the men’s program under Clement, following the 2017 Chaffee Cup and 2012 Serues Cup titles. Haverford finished the 2017-18 season ranked No. 28 nationally, the program’s highest year-end ranking in more than a decade. In 2013, the men’s team received the Barnaby Award, one of three distinguished national awards voted on by CSA coaches and teams, recognizing the varsity team that demonstrated the greatest improvement throughout the season.
On the women’s side, Clement led the Fords to consecutive CSA E Division championships in 2013 and 2014 before guiding the program into Epps Cup competition. Haverford reached No. 23 in the national rankings during the 2022-23 season. Clement and the women’s team also received the Clarence C. Chaffee Award for the 2015-16 season, presented annually to a women’s squash coach whose team has demonstrated sportsmanship, teamwork, character, and improvement.
Clement’s contributions to collegiate squash extend beyond the court. She has served on the CSA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coaches Committee and Mental Health Committee. She previously served as secretary of the Women’s College Squash Association, the governing body for national collegiate women’s teams.
A Radnor High School graduate, Clement played professionally from 2009 to 2012 and reached a career-high world ranking of No. 78 in the February 2012 Women’s International Squash Players Association rankings.
Her collegiate career foreshadowed that professional success. A 2006 graduate of Bowdoin College, Clement was a two-time All-American in 2003 and 2004 and a four-time Most Valuable Player for the Polar Bears. Bowdoin finished ninth nationally in 2003 and never lower than 13th during her four years as the team’s No. 1 player. A captain during her final two seasons, she received the Lucy L. Shulman Trophy as Bowdoin’s Most Outstanding Female Athlete in 2006 after earning the Most Outstanding Female Freshman Athlete Award in 2003. She finished her collegiate career with the most wins in program history.
Clement began coaching while still an undergraduate at Bowdoin, earning her Level I coaching certification in 2004 and working at several squash camps over the following years.
After graduation and an internship with the United States Squash Racquets Association, then headquartered in Philadelphia, Clement moved to California to pursue a master’s degree in sport management at the University of San Francisco. She worked as a squash professional at the Decathlon Club and gained collegiate coaching experience with Mark Talbott’s Stanford University squad during the 2006-07 season.
Upon completing her master’s degree in 2009, Clement accepted a position as a squash professional at The Squash Alley in Stamford, Conn., and began competing on the professional tour. She also served as a regional representative for the U.S. Squash women’s committee.
Clement’s family connections to Haverford span generations. Her grandfather, Frederick T.J. Clement ’45, and great-grandfather, Dewitt C. Clement 1917, both graduated from the College. Dewitt competed in track and field for the Scarlet and Black, setting the school’s two-mile record of 10:15.8 in 1916.
