Christine Blasey Ford feared an an avalanche of attacks would fall upon her if it were to become public she had accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school.

Friends and colleagues of the 51-year-old Palo Alto University psychology professor are going public to defend Ford, painting her as one who 'teems with honesty' - a mother of two sons who loves to surf - in interviews with the Eastern Bay Times.

'She's outgoing, liberal, kind, chitchats a lot, really supportive of her kids' sports team, goes to everything, she and her husband. She's really into her job as an educator,' Rebecca White, one of Ford's neighbors and a good friend, told the newspaper.

Christine Blasey Ford's friends are coming forward to defend her, saying she would not make up her story or misidentify Brett Kavanaugh

Brett Kavanaugh leaves his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on Tuesday. He has denied the allegations against him and says he wasn't at the high school party in question

And, last year, Ford recounted her story about Kavanaugh to White, who had posted on Facebook her own #MeToo story about being raped as a teenager.

'She reached out to me afterward, supporting me and my story and that she had something happen to her when she was really young and that the guy was a federal judge,' White said. 'She said she had been assaulted. She said hers had been violent as well, physically scary, fighting for her life.'

White said Ford told her the story in late 2017 - long before Kavanaugh was a Supreme Court nominee - although she did not mention him by name.

White recalled how Ford describe the difficulty because the judge's name would come up as 'a super powerful guy and he might be a contender for a Supreme Court position one day.'

Kirsten Leimroth, another friend, said Ford had told her in the past she had 'almost raped by a high school acquaintance,' but doesn't remember exactly when their first conversation happened.

The suggestion Ford would make it up is 'preposterous,' Leimroth said.

'There's absolutely no way it's made up. She can't even go home,' Leimroth said of Ford. 'She had to have her kids stay somewhere else. She had to shut down all social media. Why would she do that?'

Ford debated whether to come forward, Leimroth said, because she worried that since the attack wasn't an 'actual rape it's not going to do any good. He's going to go through,' she said referring to Kavanaugh's confirmation. 'Do I want to put myself through this?'

'As far as I know she was up and down about whether she was going to go public with her name, but her husband encouraged her, that he was fine with it, too, and she should do it,' Leimroth said.

Leimroth also said she is convinced Ford didn't mistake Kavanaugh. The Kavanaugh and Blasey families traveled in the same social circles, Leimroth said, and the alleged incident at the party 'wasn't her first time meeting him.'

Another friend recounted to the paper Ford's fears of being interrogated about the alleged assault, which she says took place in the 1980s when she and Kavanaugh were high school students in suburban Washington D.C.

'I've been trying to forget this all my life, and now I'm supposed to remember every little detail,' Jim Gensheimer, one of her friends, said. 'They're going to be all over me.'

Kavanaugh has repeatedly and strongly denied the allegation, saying Monday he was not even at the party where the attack took place.

'This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes—to her or to anyone,' Kavanaugh said in a statement provided by the White House.

Christine Blasey (now Ford) and Brett Kavanaugh in their respective high school year books

Brett Kavanaugh said he had no idea who accused him until Ford publicly identified herself

Kavanaugh said he 'had no idea' who made the allegation until Ford identified herself Sunday in a bombshell Washington Post interview.

'Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself yesterday,' he noted.

Kavanaugh spoke with Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for about 10 minutes Monday afternoon, where Kavanaugh denied to him that he was at the high school-era party in question, a Hatch aide told NBC News.

Hatch says Kavanaugh is 'honest' and 'straightforward,' and he thinks woman who has brought accusation is 'mixed up.'

And a Hatch spokesperson told ABC News of Kavanaugh: 'He told Senator Hatch he was not at a party like the one she describes, and that Dr. Ford, who acknowledged to the Washington Post that she 'did not remember some key details of the incident,' may be mistaking him for someone else.'

With Kavanaugh laying the groundwork his defense, Ford is preparing for her own moment in the spotlight.

Many of the Republican senators who will question her Monday when she appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee have said they want to hear her story. Even President Donald Trump has said he wants to hear from her and has avoiding mentioning her on his favorite platform - Twitter.

But other conservatives have used social media platforms to paint her as a liberal from California with an anti-Trump agenda.

Christine Blasey Ford in her Freshman Year at Holton Arms School

Brettt Kavanaugh at right, pictured in his high school yearbook

Ford is a registered Democrat and participated in a local Women's March protesting Trump last year where she wore one of the pink-yarned hats.

Her friends, however, say she is ready to face the fire even as they acknowledge Ford's political past could be used against her.

'I worry about that, and I wonder if she does, too,' White said. 'Obviously, if she was the girl who hadn't had any track record of political perspective, that would definitely be better. But anyone who would be able to speak authoritatively in front of scary people, those people usually do have opinions and support one thing or another.'

'I can't really think of anyone better' to endure the questioning, White said. 'She's one of those people who teems with honesty and truth. She's just that person.'

Ford's attorney, Debra Katz expressed concern Ford would be grilled by Republicans in a committee appearance.

'They intend to grill her,' she said Monday on 'CBS This Morning.' 'This is not an exercise that is designed to get at the truth. This is an exercise that's designed to terrify somebody that's already been traumatized.'

On Monday, a group of 15 of Ford's friends in Palo Alto, many working mothers like herself, formed a texting support group.

'She's got a strong group of women who are standing by her and would do anything for her,' Bethany Kay told the Eastern Bay Times.

Ford - who uses her maiden name Blasey professionally - is described by current and former colleagues as an honest and intelligence person.

Stanford psychiatrist David Spiegel, who co-wrote two papers with Ford, told the San Francisco Chronicle she's a 'straight shooter.' Biostatisticians by nature are deeply committed to the facts, he said: 'They keep us honest.'

'Every interaction I've had with her leaves me to think she is an honest, forthright person,' Spiegel said. 'I have the highest regard for her integrity and her intelligence. And I believe what she says.'

Ford earned her doctorate in counseling psychology from USC and a master's degree in epidemiology, specializing in biostatistics, from Stanford's School of Medicine. She has been published in professional journals and co-wrote the book 'How Many Subjects?' in 2015.

Brett Kavanaugh, third from left, in his high school yearbook

Kavanaugh, who now coaches girls basketball, was captain of his high school varsity team (front, center)

Ford told The Washington Post she came public because she feared her name would leak anyway after it was reported California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, had a letter accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

'I feel like my civic responsibility is outweighing my anguish and terror about retaliation,' she said.

She also prepared for questions about her story, taking a lie detector test, which she passed, and handing over notes from her therapist where she talked about the incident.

Ford described to The Washington Post in detail how, when she was at a teenage party in the 1980s, Kavanaugh and a friend followed her upstairs when she went to the bathroom and pushed her into a bedroom.

She detailed how Kavanaugh held her down, tried to rip off her swimsuit, and put his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream.

She said she escaped when his friend, Mark Judge, jumped on top of them.

'I thought he might inadvertently kill me,' Ford told the newspaper.

She said the incident affected her for years.

'I think it derailed me substantially for four or five years,' she said. She struggled academically and socially, she said, and was unable to have healthy relationships with men. 'I was very ill-equipped to forge those kinds of relationships.'