Men's tennis beats Rutgers and George Washington, advances to 5-3 overall

Men's tennis faced a back-to-back duel this weekend against Rutgers and George Washington University. The team bounced back from its recent loss to Virginia Commonwealth to win both matches and advance their record to 5-3 overall.

The Tigers beat Rutgers 5-2 by securing the doubles point and winning four of the six singles matches.

"We expected a tough match against Rutgers and an easier time with George Washington, which is exactly how it turned out," senior captain Judson Williams said.

Williams beat Akshay Jagdale at No. 1 with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 7-6. Jagdale is ranked in the top 10 in the region individually, making the win especially important for Princeton. The match took an interesting turn of events when Jagdale got a cramp in the third set.

"The Rutgers players and fans had a pretty unique chant to get their number one player fired up: 'Akshay from India, clap, clap, clap...' When Akshay started cramping in the third set of our match — which was really long and intense — this 'Akshay from India' chant just got louder," Williams said.

Senior captain Nick Benjamin, sophomore Tim Kofol, and Junior Trevor Smith all had successful singles matches against the Scarlet Knights. Smith has had a particularly strong season at the No. 2 spot.

Senior Darren Joe and sophomore Hendrick Chasee both had rough matches. Chasse injured his ankle injury in his match at No. 6.

"Darren would have beaten that guy badly on a better day....and the injury to Hendrick was a downer, but he should be back very soon," Williams said.

Against George Washington, the Tigers went into the match with the upper hand, defeating the Colonials with a solid win of 6-1.

Princeton swept the doubles point and took the win for five of the six singles matches, securing four of the matches in just two sets.

In late action, the men dominated Stony Brook at Jadwin Gym. The final score was 6-1 in favor of the Tigers, extending their winning streak to three matches.

The women's team had struggled in North Carolina. The Tigers had a 7-0 loss against North Carolina, making them 1-3, but it was a loss that came unexpectedly.

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North Carolina State took the 1-0 lead by sweeping the three doubles matches and then proceeded to take all six singles matches. Five wins occurred in straight sets.

Sophomore Jackie Arcario was winning her set 5-3 when she sprained her ankle.

"I took an injury break and we switched over and I got my ankle wrapped. I wanted to see if I could play out the match, but after playing it was obvious that I needed to stop," said Arcario.

The Tigers did not expect to lose the match — and certainly not so decisively.

"I think we're at the same level if not better than North Carolina State. I think the transition from playing indoors [North Carolina only practices outdoors] to playing outside for the first time this season was rough. Plus, through the entire line-up, each of us was matched up against someone with a funky game; but as individual players, I think each one of us is a stronger player," Arcario said.

Despite the loss to the Wolfpack, the women's team will have at least one outdoor match under their belt when they face St. John's University this Saturday.