Men's tennis tops Navy, St. John's; women narrowly defeat BC

It would appear that the men's tennis team had an easy time of it this weekend, knocking off both St. John's and Navy in nearly flawless 6-1 wins. But it turns out that appearances can be deceiving and mental attitude can make all the difference.

The team played its first match of the weekend Friday against St. John's. While the Tigers were expected to win handily, two of the Princeton wins were decided by tiebreakers and one went to a third set. Sophomore Darren Joe had the most decisive victory with a 6-4, 6-2 nod over Brian Scharf at the No. 5 position. Even the doubles matches were all within a three-game range.

In fact, despite the 6-1 final score, this match was in many ways just as close as the 5-4 victory turned in by the Princeton women over Boston College on Saturday. In that contest, the Tigers used strong doubles play to triumph over the Eagles.

"[St. John's] has a great No. 1 player, but other than that, we're a lot better than them," sophomore Judson Williams said of the Tiger men's first victory of the weekend.

Princeton's men then had their opportunity to prove just how much better the Tigers are against a tougher Navy team Saturday.

Junior Kyle Kliegerman started things off with a three-set win over Mitchell Koch. The rest of the Tigers followed suit with close wins down the line, dropping only the No. 5 singles match, resulting in their 6-1 victory.

"We're not that much better than Navy, but we're a little better at each spot," freshman Trevor Smith said. "So the score ends up being lopsided. It's better for us to play that way, though. It helps us prepare for other matches."

The team attributed its identical results against very different teams to mental preparation, noting that Princeton went into the Navy match knowing it had to play its best.

"When you don't think the person you're playing is that good, you get sloppy and relax too much," Smith said. "It makes the match closer than it should be."

Back in action

The weekend also marked junior John Portlock's return to competition. The Tiger has been out for three months, most recently due to tendonitis in his left knee. Portlock had a flawless start, winning his singles match against St. John's and both his doubles matches.

Portlock attributed his success at doubles to his partner, Williams.

"Judson is just terrific to get out on the court with," Portlock said. "He's always very fired up and makes sure you get into the match just as much as he does. He's just a bouncy, crazy guy. He's all over the place, and it's infectious."

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The women's team had a tough fight to hold off Boston College on Sunday. The two teams split the singles matches, 3-3, putting all the weight on the doubles competition.

Princeton clinched the match with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles spots. Senior Jyotsna Vasisht and sophomore Kristi Watson played at No. 2, and sophomore Priya Bhupathi and freshman Sam Gingold teamed up at No. 3. Both teams won by an 8-3 mark.

"After struggling in our singles matches, it was good to get out on the court and be confident," Watson said. "There was more pressure towards the end when we realized it was going to be a tough win. But when you're playing well, you don't feel it too much."

Bhupathi, who won at No. 4 singles, was the only team member to win in both doubles and singles competition for Princeton. Junior Gailor Large and sophomore Julia Salzman were the other two singles winners.