Men, women defeat Cornell

Dominating doubles has been the hallmark of the men's tennis team (14-8 overall, 3-4 Ivy League) this season. The Tigers have taken the doubles point in every one of their wins this season, and Sunday's season finale in Ithaca, N.Y., against Cornell (9-9, 3-4) was no different. In its usual fashion, Princeton swept doubles play to earn a 4-3 win. The victory comes on the heels of a tough 4-3 loss to No. 63 Columbia (16-3, 6-1) at home Friday.

The women's team (10-9, 4-3) also fell to the Lions (8-6, 3-4) in New York on Friday before thumping Cornell (8-9, 1-6) on Sunday at home to close out the regular season.

Lions roar

The men got off to a rough start on Friday against a rugged Columbia team that had lost only one league match all season. Facing their fourth nationally-ranked Ivy opponent, the Tigers struggled to maintain control early, dropping the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches.

Having lost the doubles point, Princeton refused to surrender without a fight and brought the match to the wire in singles. Junior Darius Craton faced off against Jimmy Moore, earning the first set of his No. 2 singles competition, 6-4. Craton cruised in the second set and let Moore escape with only two games. Junior Andrew Lieu took a pair of 6-4 sets from Mike Moore to earn the No. 5 point. Junior Hans Plukas capitalized on a third set to drop Mark Clemente, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

At the end of the day, the doubles point proved to be the difference in the closely contested match, and the Lions walked away with a 4-3 victory.

The Tigers rediscovered their strength in doubles play on Sunday against Cornell. Senior co-captain Josh Burman and sophomore Sratha Saengsuwarn pulled away at No. 2 to snag an 8-4 win. Craton and sophomore Ted Mabrey felled Ray Wu and Matt Cherner-Ranft, 8-5, in their No. 3 match. At No. 1, Lieu and Plukas held on in a tiebreak, winning 9-8 (2), to sweep doubles play.

Plukas also faced a tough opponent in Dan Brous, playing No. 4 singles. Plukas grabbed the first set in a tiebreak and topped his foe, 7-5, in the second set for the victory. Craton likewise came out on the right side of a tiebreak in the first set of his No. 2 match before taking the second, 6-3. Lieu hammered his opponent at No. 5, granting Rory Heggie only five games over two sets.

The three singles victories were enough to give Princeton the win to finish the Ivy season. The Tigers capped off the spring under .500 in Ivy competition, but all four losses were to nationally-ranked squads.

"The ultimate goal every year is to win the Ivy league title," Lieu said. "We didn't get it done this year, and so in some ways we were disappointed.

Lions roar again

The women faced similarly menacing opposition from a Columbia squad. Freshman Ivana King and junior Jessica Seibel got things going early as they burned their No. 1 doubles opponents, 8-4. Senior Stephanie Berg and junior Rankin Williams battled fiercely at No. 3 but fell in a tiebreak. The Lions then nabbed the No. 2 match to steal the doubles point.

King persevered as she dropped her No. 6 singles opponent in a tiebreak, 6-2, 7-6 (4). Junior Alison Hashmall earned the other win on the day, defeating Miriam Rahali, 6-2, 7-5.

Princeton was not to be denied against the Big Red on Sunday in its season finale. Taking an early advantage, sophomores Darcy Robertson and Joanna Roth pounded Erika Takeuchi and Melissa Tu in an 8-1 landslide at No. 2. Berg and Williams managed an 8-6 victory at No. 3 to secure the doubles point.

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The Tigers dominated singles play to win the match, grabbing four of the six possible points. Hashmall got off to a running start as she goose-egged Takeuchi in the first set of her No. 3 singles match. Hashmall went to a tiebreak in set two but came out on top, 7-6 (3). Freshman Christine Kansky came out strong against Kasia Preneta, earning a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 4. Having lost in doubles, Siebel got revenge on Akane Kokubo at No. 1, 6-4, 6-3. Berg, playing No. 6, defeated Tu, 7-5, 6-4.

Robertson battled from a set down to even the score in her No. 2 competition, but was unable to hang on as Mollie Edinson gained the 6-4 advantage in the third set. Roth also came back in her No. 5 match against Nisha Suda but fell, 11-9, in a third set tiebreak.

The 5-2 win pushed the Tigers over .500 both overall and in league competition to finish the season.

"It was great to finish the season with a win over Cornell, and it was especially meaningful for me since it was the last match of my Princeton tennis career," Berg said. "Our goals for this season were to play disciplined tennis, to play with focus and knowledge of our individual game styles, and to play with a lot of confidence, and I think we accomplished those."