Brown ousts defending champ men's tennis at ECAC tourney

Coming into this year's ECAC tournament as defending champions, the men's tennis team had to be wary of two key factors. First and foremost, they were a marked team. The other 15 schools in the tournament were gunning for a title that the Tigers owned. Secondly, Princeton had to be careful not to let last year's success lull them into a feeling of complacency.

Both of these factors came into play on Sunday as Princeton lost to Brown in the semifinals of the ECACs, 6-1. The Tigers lost five of six singles matches and all three doubles matches. The lone winner for Princeton was senior co-captain Darren Joe, who took his match at No. 4 singles.

The loss, however, did not seem to be as much about talent as it was about emotion.

"Brown is an energetic team. It was intimidating hearing them yelling and getting pumped up after every point," head coach Glenn Michibata said. "We aren't as outwardly emotional. Our team is made up of quiet competitors. We can't force ourselves to change, but we all have to pick it up."

"They [Brown] were just fired up. They had more energy," senior co-captain Judson Williams said. "If anything, we had more talent, we just didn't pull it out."

Joe perceived a similar situation. "They were a little more aggressive. We were a little flat-footed. We just weren't ready."

The Tigers, seeded third in the tournament, began the week with a first-round match against 14th-seeded Georgetown Saturday. Princeton outmatched the Hoyas, winning easily 6-1.

In the next round, the Tigers faced sixth-seeded Penn State. In windy conditions that nearly forced the matches inside, Princeton overcame the elements and managed a hard fought 5-2 win.

"There were tough conditions out there that day, and all the matches were pretty tight," Joe said. "But we played well and pulled it out."

Though seeded third, the team felt that it had a great chance to win.

"We're clearly disappointed," Michibata said. "We really could have won, and we expected to. We also expect to win the Ivies this year. But now we know that we can never feel complacent."

"We have to treat this as a wakeup call," Williams said. "The talent is here just like it was last year. But we aren't as sharp. Maybe we didn't practice as hard. But this will certainly motivate us. We'll work harder in the winter and come out more determined in the spring."

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"I think we all have to look at what we can do better," Michibata said. "As for the coaching staff, we were going to work on restructuring practice from very technical work back to the basics. I think the guys just didn't get to hit enough balls before the tournament."

The team still has a few more tournaments before they break for the winter. Coming up is the Intercollegiate Tennis Association regionals, a tournament with over 45 schools — some nationally ranked — from the northeast. The tournament, however, is not a team tournament.

"We'd like to win ITA, of course," Joe said. "But we're also working toward better team play."

Williams echoed his fellow captain's thoughts. "Before the [ECAC] tournament, we thought we were better tennis players. Now we know there's more to it than that. It's more of a team sport than you think, and you need to feel energy from your teammates."