M. tennis readies for season with young lineup

Men's tennis (1-2 overall) is ready to roar, but can its bite match its bark? Coming off of a semifinal loss in the fall's Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament, the Tigers look toward an Ivy season of tough competition, primarily from its biggest rival, Harvard. Yet senior captain Trevor Smith is undaunted by the challenge.

"The main goal of the season is to beat Harvard and win the Ivies," Smith said. "It is a realistic goal if we all play well and stay injury-free."

How realistic this goal is remains to be seen. After graduating four seniors, three from the top six, Princeton's lineup consists of many new faces, potential fresh blood open for the Tiger's predators.

Smith praised the freshman for bringing energy to the team, but notes a potential weakness.

"The [new] guys are not used to Ivy matches," Smith said. "It's also tricky with doubles, trying to figure out the new teams."

Head coach Glenn Michibata, however, does not foresee the doubles as a problem for the team's success. Rather, Michibata believes that the depth of talent on the squad will provide strength for doubles competition.

"Our main strength is that we have a really balanced and deep team," Michibata said.

Despite his confidence in the new spring lineup, Michibata shared Smith's concern for the pressure placed upon the team's first year players. With the novelty of playing on a college team and against competitive Ivy teams, Michi-bata said he cannot predict how the freshman will react.

But judging by the attitude of the young Tigers, coach and captain have nothing to fear. Darius Craton, a freshman from Canada who will be playing as high as third in the singles lineup, seems up for the challenge. After taking a year off after high school graduation to play pro-futures tournaments, Craton is invigorated by the opportunity to play on a team.

"It's a different kind of pressure playing with a team," Craton said. "Sometimes it adds to the pressure because you know there are guys out there who want you to win, but they are also the guys who are supporting you."

So far, the freshmen appear to be stepping up. Freshman Hans Plukas has the best record on the team this year at 17-7. Plukas has admitted to enjoying the pressure he senses as a first year player. Craton follows with the second best performance on the team at a 10-6 singles record.

While the freshmen are holding their own, the team has had mixed results to start off the spring season that began with an intersession trip to North Carolina. The team opened by defeating North Carolina State University, 5-2, with a win by both doubles teams. But the Tigers could not hold their force, losing, 4-3, to North Carolina and, 7-0, to Duke. The only win against Duke was in fact achieved by Craton and fellow freshman doubles partner, David Gopstein.

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After a bumpy trip in the South, Princeton is gearing up for Saturday's home match against Old Dominion. Ranked nationally at No. 69, Old Dominion poses a difficult challenge to the Tigers who were most recently ranked No. 75. Princeton's upcoming opponents will specifically challenge the top singles players, as well as first doubles with a team individually ranked in the top five nationally.

The Tigers will meet their first Ivy League opponents in early April with Columbia, whom they defeated last season, 7-0. After playing Yale the following week — a team which Princeton downed, 5-2, last spring — the Tigers will be faced with the two toughest teams in the league, Brown and Harvard. Princeton fell to Brown, 5-2, last year and, 6-1, to the Crimson.

But enough of Princeton's past. Men's tennis has a fresh spirit and a new attitude and is preparing to take center stage. Michibata, who is coaching his third year at Princeton, sees the Ivy League Championship as a realistic end to the journey that begins this Saturday. Despite all hopes for a big win, Michibata keeps things in perspective:

"I am consistently focused on the process rather than solely on winning. As long as we keep pushing ourselves, the results will fall into place."