On their annual Spring Break trip to California, the men's and women's tennis teams ended the week with the same results — two wins apiece — but took different paths to get there. Some big wins checked by close losses brought the men within a few points of greatness. The women tested their adaptability as they adjusted their lineup to compensate for missing players.
The men kicked off their week with a 6-1 loss to Duke, the No. 2-ranked team in the nation, followed by a tough loss to UC-Irvine.
"It was a close match," head coach David Benjamin said. "A couple shots and a couple points could've added up to a big difference."
Against Duke, two of the doubles matches were within two games. On the singles side, senior Ahn Ahn Liu and sophomores Judson Williams and Nick Benjamin all went three sets in their matches.
The Tigers rebounded to win their next two matches against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and UC-Santa Barbara. Pepperdine, which is undefeated and had beaten Duke earlier in the week, brought the Tigers' winning streak to an end with a 6-1 decision. The match was played as a preview to a professional tournament in Indian Wells. Liu and senior Scott Borenstein earned an 8-6 victory over the previously undefeated Waves top doubles team, ranked No. 5 in the nation.
Come together
"It was by far the best match we've played all year," Borenstein said. "We had a lot of chances against some of the other teams and we were close to breaking through. Then it all clicked. It's good to get that big win."
The doubles team had fallen to Duke and Irvine earlier in the week before defeating Claremont and Santa Barbara.
"There's going to be tough matches all year," Borenstein said. "This was good preparation to show we can pull out those matches."
Freshman Trevor Smith earned the sole point for Princeton in the Pepperdine match, taking out his opponent at No. 4 singles. The match was played in the experimental NIT format, in which a match tiebreaker is played if the players split the first two sets. In this format, the player who gets 10 points first wins. Smith tested this out when, after falling 6-4 in the first set, he came back for a 6-2 win in the second. Smith was down 9-6 in the tiebreaker before he rallied for a 11-9 win.
"I played well and got a little lucky," Smith said. "[In the tiebreaker] I hit a couple good serves and got lucky on some returns. It was a good way to end the week — I was about to go crazy."
Shorthanded
The women, playing without No. 1 freshman Kavitha Krishnamurthy, lost their first two matches to San Diego State and UC-Irvine but evened out their trip record by ending with wins against Washington State and Loyola Marymount.
The Tigers managed to beat Washington State, 5-3, also without junior Gailor Large, who sat out to rest a foot injury.
Senior Amanda Hastings-Phillips stepped up to fill the No. 1 spot. She lost the first two matches in three sets before "hitting her stride" and winning her last two matches.
"It's really different playing No. 1 than even No. 2 or 3," Hastings-Phillips said. "I think that in the last two matches I played I realized I had to stay on top and play tough from beginning to end. You can't let up at all."
Despite having to play without Krishnamurthy and senior Jyotsna Vasisht, who left early for family reasons, and having to forfeit at No. 2 singles when a player did not make it to the match in time, the Tigers managed to edge out Loyola Marymount in a 5-4 win. Hastings-Phillips teamed up with Large in doubles and they came back from being down a break to give Princeton the crucial point.
"Gailor and Amanda were the heroes, pulling out the last doubles match," head coach Louise Gengler said.
Sophomore Kristi Watson was another hero, going undefeated in doubles play throughout the trip.
Read More
Princeton softball stands atop the Ivy League standings after defeating Yale
Dalynn HoltzclawThe Tigers sit two games ahead of second place and are on an eight-game winning streak. Should they finish as the No. 1 seed next weekend, they will host the Ivy League tournament.
The Tigers sit two games ahead of second place and are on an eight-game winning streak. Should they finish as the No. 1 seed next weekend, they will host the Ivy League tournament.
Princeton Men’s golf falls just short in Ivy League Championships
Matthew YiDespite coming close, a tough round three and poor weather conditions led to the Tigers losing to Yale in the men's Ivy League Golf Championships.
Despite coming close, a tough round three and poor weather conditions led to the Tigers losing out to Yale in the men's Ivy League Golf Championships.
On senior night, No. 21 Princeton men’s lacrosse secures a dominant win over No. 12 Penn
Lily PampolinaWith a massive win over a ranked opponent, the Tigers will head to New Haven next week in hopes of sealing their Ivy League tournament berth.
With a massive win over a ranked opponent, the Tigers will head to New Haven next week in hopes of sealing their Ivy League tournament berth.
