Yale, Brown to provide key test for m., w. tennis

The women's tennis team will have home court advantage hosting Yale and Brown in Jadwin Gymnasium this weekend. It is the men's turn to hit the road as both teams prepare for their third and fourth matches in the Ivy League season.

The women (8-5 overall, 1-1 Ivy League) go into the weekend matches with a score to settle.

The Tigers, ranked No. 70 (by collegetennisonline.com), are still smarting from their last encounter with No. 54 Yale during this fall's Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships. After rolling past Brown without losing a match, the Tigers advanced to the finals against the Bulldogs.

It was a hard fought battle, and in the end victory rested on the outcome of the final two singles matches. However, the Tigers, unable to follow through, lost 5-2.

Even with that result in the back of their minds, however, the Tigers are optimistic.

"We're ready to beat Yale. I think we can defeat them if everyone plays strong," said freshman Neha Uberoi. "Revenge is sweet."

The Tigers, however, will not be the only ones in search of retribution, as Brown (11-6, 0-1) will hope to rebound from a 7-0 loss to Harvard last Saturday.

Brown has several players who will more than test Princeton, including freshman Stephanie Falconi, who joined the team with a junior national ranking of 24, and sophomore Alex Arlak who was not far behind with a national ranking of 94.

Yale, however, still remains the team to beat. The Bulldogs have been riding high on a streak of wins that has boosted its overall record to 10-1. Friday's match against Princeton will be Yale's first taste of Ivy League play.

The Bulldogs draw their strength from an experienced core of players that includes seniors Elizabeth Kaufmann (nationally No. 81) and Susie Hiniker. The Bulldogs' starting lineup, which does not include any freshmen, will be a challenge for the Tigers' relatively young team.

"We'll have to fight hard," Uberoi said, "but we have some good freshmen, and we've all been looking forward to this for quite a while."

Meanwhile, men's tennis (13-6, 2-0) will also face a busy weekend as they seek to boost their Ivy League record with wins against unranked Yale and No. 42 Brown.

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"The focus of the weekend will be Brown, because we're expected to beat Yale," senior captain Trevor Smith said.

A victory against the Bears would be a big win for the Tigers, for it would maintain their undefeated streak and put them in serious contention for the Ivy Title.

But beating Brown will be no easy task. The Bears hold an outstanding overall record of 15-3 and their 5-2 win over Yale put their Ivy League record at 1-0.

Seeking retribution

Last year's match between Princeton and Brown resulted in a 5-2 victory for the Bears, and the team has shown no signs of slowing down. Their roster includes two nationally ranked players — junior Jamie Cerretanie and senior Chris Drake.

"We match up well with [Brown] down the line," Smith said, "and it should be really exciting."

Yale, on the other hand, has not had quite as much success. With a poor overall record of 5-8, it is last in Ivy League standing with a record of 0-1.

The Tigers came out on top with a 5-2 win last year against the Bulldogs and are expecting similar results this Saturday.

Princeton, ranked No. 72 nationally, has been training hard in preparation for the Ivy Season and has played well in its first two Ivy League matches.

Both teams are looking forward to some exciting play. The women host both Brown and Yale, while the men will travel to their opponents' respective campuses. Both teams play against Yale on Friday at 2 p.m. and Brown on Saturday at noon.