Get out the broomsticks. The men's and women's tennis teams swept their opposition this weekend in their first home stand of the season at Jadwin Gymnasium. Both teams recorded two wins to complete the successful outing.
Head coach Glenn Michibata's men's team (3-2 overall) rebounded from a difficult road loss to Clemson and opened the weekend in dominant fashion. On Saturday evening, the Tigers downed South Carolina State (0-4) by a lopsided 7-0 score without losing a single set in either singles or doubles play. The following day, Princeton had to work much harder for its victory, narrowly edging Manhattan College (3-1), 4-3.
Meanwhile, close matches were the norm for head coach Kathy Sell's women's team (2-0), as the Tigers eked out a pair of 4-3 victories to start its season, downing Richmond (2-3) on Saturday afternoon and Temple (0-2) on Sunday afternoon.
Dominating doubles
The men's opening match was highlighted by junior No. 5 Shannon Morales' crushing victory over the Bulldogs' Parantap Chaturredi, in which Morales won all but one game.
At the No. 2 singles spot, sophomore Sratha Saengsuwarn made quick work of his opponent, Andrew Mawire, running away with a 6-1, 6-1 win. Freshman Ashwat Sarohia also downed his foe without much difficulty, defeating Dragan Bisercic in straight sets (6-1, 6-3) to claim the No. 4 singles point.
Princeton dominated the pro-set doubles play, winning all three matches to earn the doubles point. The No. 2 team of Saengsuwarn and Sarohia and No. 3 team of juniors Hans Plukas and Andrew Lieu both grabbed landslide 8-2 victories.
The Tigers continued to dominate in doubles against the Jaspers the following day as both the team of Saengsuwarn and Sarohia and the team of junior Darius Craton and Morales both routed their opponents with 8-1 scores.
The highlight of doubles play, however, was Plukas' and Lieu's 17-game thriller against Manhattan's duo of Erez Cohen and Zoltan Bus. The Jaspers jumped out to an early lead, but Plukas and Lieu fought back to send the game to a tiebreak. Finally, in the tiebreak's 14th point, Plukas hit a topspin forehand shot from the service line and Bus' return volley sailed out, giving Princeton the 9-8 (8-6) victory.
Saengsuwarn gave up only two games in a decisive 6-2, 6-0 win over Cohen on Sunday. The other singles matches were closely contested, but wins by Craton at the No. 1 spot and Sarohia at No. 4 were enough to give Princeton the overall 4-3 victory on the day.
"This match against Manhattan College was definitely a stepping stone for us as a team," Sarohia said. "We had to deal with a team that fought very hard. I am very proud of all the guys on the team for pulling out a tough match."
Close calls
A shorthanded Richmond women's team was only able to field five competitors on Saturday, which gave the Tigers a win in a doubles and a singles match by default. Though the Spiders took the other two doubles matches as well as the top two singles competitions, the second half of Princeton's singles lineup rose to the occasion and won the match.
At the No. 3 spot, junior Alison Hashmall took her opponent, Courtney Klein, to three sets and came out on top with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory. Her victory was followed with similar success from freshman No.4 Brittany Holland, who also pulled out a three-setter, taking down Meghan Wolfgram, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
In contrast with these two closely contested three-set matches, sophomore No. 5 Joanna Roth did not waste much time routing Jelena Zivanovic, 6-2, 6-0.
The Tigers also came out strong the next day against Temple. Princeton demonstrated its strength early, taking all three doubles matches from the Owls. Roth and sophomore Darcy Robertson handed Temple an 8-1 defeat at the No. 2 spot.
In the singles matches, once again it was the lower seeds who came up big. Hashmall easily topped Laura Seiverling, losing only two games in the first set and then blanking Seiverling in the second.
Roth and fellow sophomore Laura Trimble also won their matches in straight sets, easily rolling past Jackie Sy (6-2, 6-1) and Sharanya Pattabi (6-4, 6-0), respectively.
"We've seen a lot from our young players," assistant coach Mark Lucero said. "Everyone's really showing what they can do."
The Princeton women travel to Boston next weekend to face Boston University and Boston College, Lucero's alma mater. Lucero said that in light of the Tigers' sweep this weekend, they feel confident heading into their road trip.
Meanwhile, the men will continue their home stand next weekend against Stony Brook and Boston College.
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