Women's tennis falls victim to Brown, Yale at Jadwin

A wise man once said that when it rains, it pours. But what happens when one is inside? Does it rain at all?

The women's tennis team was moved inside to the dry confines of Jadwin Gymnasium this weekend, and though freed from the miserable weather outdoors still battled a storm — an indoor one — against Yale and Brown on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The team was in for an unpleasant surprise as they walked into Jadwin expecting two wins, but left with two losses. The Tigers (8-7 overall, 1-3 Ivy League) fell to both Yale and Brown by a 5-2 margin.

"We went into this weekend thinking we could beat both teams," junior captain Alex Kobishyn said. "If you look at the head-to-head matchup, I think we could have won all our matches."

Making those assumptions a reality proved to be tougher than expected. The Tigers faced stiff competition as they entered Friday's match against Yale, whom the team had anticipated to be the toughest match of the weekend.

The Elis, ranked No. 54 according to College Tennis Online, have been enjoying an outstanding season thus far with a 15-2 overall record and a 1-1 record in the Ivy League.

"Yale was an opportunity for a very nice win," head coach Louise Gengler said. "We just didn't pull it off."

The match got off to a promising start as the doubles pairing of senior Kavitha Krishnamurthy and freshman Neha Uberoi dominated their Yale counterparts, 8-1. The auspicious trend did not last long for the Tigers, however, as they dropped the next two doubles matches.

Undaunted by the loss of the doubles point, Krishnamurthy carried over her great play from doubles to singles, quickly earning back a point for Princeton with a two-set, 6-2, 6-4 win.

Despite her victory, the other Tigers were quickly falling to their Yale foes.

The Elis snatched up a cheap victory for the No. 2 singles point as the Tigers' shining freshman Uberoi bowed out of the match due to illness.

Uberoi had been feeling under the weather for the past week and was suffering from dizzy spells during Friday's match. Gengler is optimistic about Uberoi's quick recovery, however, expecting her freshman back at practice by early this week.

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Uberoi's absence from the remainder of the weekend's play was undoubtedly a big obstacle for the Tigers, who then had to shift each of their players up a slot.

"She's a big presence in the lineup," Kobishyn said.

Aside from the No. 2 match, the Elis won at Nos. 3, 4, and 6 singles to secure a 5-2 win against the Tigers.

Princeton freshman Alison Hashmall, at No. 3, fell to her opponent Susie Hiniker, and sophomore Stephanie Berg, at No. 4, fell to Karlyn Martin. Both lost in straight sets. At No. 6, freshman Susan Meng and her opponent were tied at a set apiece before the match was conceded to Yale because the Elis had already achieved an overall victory in the match.

Yet before the match was over, Princeton managed to wrestle one last win away from the relentless Elis. Freshman Jessica Siebel dominated the first set of No. 5 singles, 6-2, then slipped a bit in the second set before snatching the win from Yale with a 7-6 (7) second-set win.

The next day's play against Brown was not much of an improvement as the Tigers faltered and fell to Brown. The loss was particularly disheartening because the Tigers had expected a repeat of last fall's dominating performance against the Bears.

"Brown was not a good loss," Siebel said. "It was obviously not a good weekend for us."

The Tigers struggled early in the doubles matches as Krishnamurthy and Siebel gave up a close 9-8 win against Brown for No. 1 doubles. Juniors Avantika Bhargava and Mateya McCoy lost No. 2 doubles in another close game, 8-6.

Finally, the No. 3 team of sophomore Stephanie Berg and Kobishyn spared the Tigers a doubles sweep as they pulled of an 8-6 victory over the Bears.

"Brown's match just showed the momentum of the doubles point," said Kobishyn. "It can really set the tone for the rest of the match."

As the Bears gained momentum, Princeton tried to slow them down by capturing wins from the Nos. 1 and 2 single spots. But Brown plowed through with wins at Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6 singles.

The losses, though a setback for the Tigers, are a testament to the intense competition in the league this year. As Princeton tries to look ahead to its remaining matches, Gengler keeps the poor performance of this weekend in perspective.

"There's immense parity between the Ivies this year," she said, "and we can't take any of the teams lightly. Our intent [for the upcoming matches] is to come out with our best tennis."