A native Philadelphian and graduate of Lower Merion High School, Sara Schiffman has enjoyed an outstanding career in the world of tennis both as a player and a coach. Undefeated in four years at the number one singles position in high school, she led Lower Merion to the finals of the PIAA Championship in 2000 and 2001 and was victorious in the Pennsylvania District I championship in both seasons.
Her talents on the court were so superior that she was named first team All-Main Line in all four of her years playing for the Aces and was a member of the All-State team four times as well. Schiffrman won the Central League Singles Championship in 1999, 2000 and 2001 and was honored as the Inquirer’s Girls High School Tennis Player of the Year in two of those seasons.
At the University of Pennsylvania, she was a four year letter winner and two-time team captain. Schiffman had a sensational sophomore season with an impressive 20-7 mark and during her college career, the Quakers made two trips to the NCAA Tournament.
In 2003, she won three gold medals and one silver medal in the Pan-American Maccabi Games in Santiago, Chile and two years later won silver as a member of the American contingent at the World Maccabiah Games in Israel.
In her transition from player to coach, she led the girl’s Maccabi tennis team in the Argentinean Pan-American Games. After graduating from Penn she became the assistant coach of the Quakers women’s tennis team and helped guide them to a 28-12 overall record and 13-1 in the Ivy League. In 2007, Penn went undefeated to claim the Ivy League title and earn a berth in the NCAA tourney. She was named interim head coach of the Penn Quakers in 2009.
After three years coaching at Penn, Schiffman moved to New York for graduate work and became the assistant coach at Columbia University where she was a welcome addition to the program.
Schiffman earned an M.A. in Social Organizational Psychology at Columbia University and is currently a Human Resources Coordinator for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York.
