The men's and women's tennis teams made their mark in Ivy League standings this weekend. The men's team surpassed expectations with two resounding wins over Penn and Columbia, while the women maintained middle-ground with an exciting win over the Lions and a tough loss to the Quakers.
Penn's men's team (8-7 overall, 0-3 Ivy League) came to Princeton on Friday eager to avenge last year's 4-3 sudden-death loss to the Tigers. Instead, Princeton (11-5, 2-0) threw them a punch, beginning with a sweep in doubles, to knock the Quakers out, 6-1.
However, after two swift singles victories from freshman Darius Craton and junior Daniel Friedman, the battle intensified.
At No. 2, sophomore Josh Burman led 5-2 in the second set, ready to secure the deciding match for the team, when his opponent came charging back. All at once, the tide seemed to turn.
Tied at five games apiece in Burman's match, senior co-captain Trevor Smith let his second set slip through his fingers in a tiebreaker and freshman Hans Plukas walked off the court with a 6-3, 7-5 loss.
The Quakers had become rowdy with excitement, anticipating an opportunity to go 3-3 and possibly steal the match. In response, as Smith sat down for the changeover between sets, the sidelined Tigers all jumped off the bleachers to cheer for Burman.
Apparently this boost was just what Burman needed to silence Penn with his 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) win, which propelled the team to victory at 4-1.
As icing on the cake, freshman Andrew Lieu clinched victory in a championship tiebreaker at No. 6, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (8), and Smith out-battled his opponent, 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6 (6), after trailing 5-2 in the final set tiebreaker.
Another victory
The Tigers repeated their winning performance Saturday with an another powerful 6-1 victory over Columbia (7-3, 2-1).
Princeton maintained a wide lead throughout the match by winning all three doubles matches and taking the first set in five of six singles matches.
"We thought it would have been closer than it was," Smith said.
The Quakers had proved more challenging than Columbia, contrary to expectations since the Lions had defeated them 6-1 last weekend. Thus, the Tigers came into the match prepared to fight.
"Our main matches are Brown and Harvard, but we always take [matches] seriously," Smith said. "The Ivy season is pretty short so it's easy to stay focused for a few weeks."
The women's team (8-4, 1-1) started the weekend with a boost by snatching a victory over Columbia (4-4, 1-2), 4-3.
The doubles point proved to be a key asset. As usual, junior co-captain Alex Kobishyn and sophomore Stephanie Berg started the match with a bang, crushing their opponents 8-0 at No. 3. At No. 1, senior co-captain Kavitha Krishnamurthy and freshman Neha Uberoi fought back from a 5-2 deficit to win the deciding doubles match, 8-6.
Krishnamurthy and Uberoi capitalized on their escalating momentum to win in straight sets at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively. Freshman Allison Hashmall followed suit at No. 3 to earn the deciding win for the team, 6-2, 7-6 (4).
The Lions did not let the Tigers off the hook and proceeded to win the remaining three matches, despite being mathematically out of contention.
"I definitely think the Ivy League is very competitive," Krishna-murthy said. "All the teams are strong, so we can't take anybody for granted, but also, no team is taking us for granted."
Nationally ranked No. 41, Penn (12-4, 3-0) certainly did not take Princeton for granted Saturday as they came out strong, sweeping doubles and dominating in three straight singles wins to secure victory.
The Tigers fought to the end by taking the Quakers to tiebreakers at Nos. 1, 2 and 4 singles. Krishna-murthy made an impressive showing against her No. 17 nationally ranked opponent, but fell just short, 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (6).
Uberoi, who played No. 2, was the lone Tiger to snatch a win, 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (9). But the team has not yet sold themselves short.
"We definitely still have our hopes for winning the [Ivy League] title," Krishnamurthy said. "We just have to work hard to try and win our upcoming matches."
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