Roth, frosh start tennis season in style

If you've seen the recent Nike ads featuring Maria Sharapova, it's hard not to equate the catchy "West Side Story" tune "I feel pretty" with the stunning Sharapova slamming a backhand return into the back wall. Nike plays on the contrasting yet complementary ideas of a lovestruck woman and a dominating female athlete, feminine yet determined, lovestruck with her sport.

Even though the women's tennis team isn't serenaded by hotel clerks, ball girls and commentators like John McEnroe, it's easy to see that after three tough days of tournament play at their very own Princeton Invitational, the Tigers are just as fresh-faced and determined as ever.

The first annual Princeton Invitational was played out from Friday to Sunday and hosted players from Buffalo, Ohio State, Yale and Rutgers. The tournament featured some interesting characteristics such as a round-robin format, pro-set scoring for doubles and a few singles matches — where players compete in only one set with the first to eight games winning by two — and a flexible ladder.

"This is the first time we've played a round-robin format like this," head coach Kathy Sell said. "It's great because it guarantees that you will play next to your teammate instead of being five courts away."

There was definitely an air of camaraderie on the courts as the squad cheered each other on from neighboring courts in between points.

"They did so well," Sell said. "They were so fired up to play this weekend."

This tournament came at a time during the season when getting match experience was at a premium to prepare for the spring season. The Tigers got plenty of court time with three days of doubles and singles matches. It was also a showcase for individual talent as the ladder was fluid throughout the tournament, giving the players experience playing different spots on the roster.

"This tournament is great because it is an alternative way to practice over the weekend instead of just playing with teammates," Sell said.

Starting on Friday with four pro-set double matches each, the squad battled fatigue to come out strong on Saturday for the singles round.

"Friday was a big hurdle, but nobody let a ball go by without running for it," Sell said.

The Tigers posted two wins each against Ohio State, Rutgers, Buffalo and Yale. Freshmen Blakely Ashley and Sarah Huah teamed up for their first collegiate match and notched an impressive 8-2 doubles win over Ohio State and an 8-5 win over Rutgers. Freshman Melissa Saiontz sat the weekend out.

After a fatiguing Friday, Princeton bounced back and notched strong wins in the singles round on Saturday. Though rain moved play indoors on Friday, the Tigers were able to show off their new outdoor facility by midday Saturday. Again, Ashley and Huah impressed with wins over Buffalo. Buffalo took four out of the eight matches winning at No. 1, 5, 6 and 8.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The Tigers had five wins over Rutgers, dropping only one match at the No. 2 spot. Princeton joined forces with Yale to boost its small squad and matched up against Buffalo. The Bulldogs took the top two matches and the Tigers posted wins on the bottom two courts.

Princeton rounded out the weekend with singles play on Sunday. The Tigers struggled after a long weekend and only came away with two wins on the day. Yale overcame Princeton with a strong 4-1 win. Sophomore Kelly Stewart showed heart in winning a tiebreaker at No. 4 after splitting sets with Yale's Christine Alford.

For the final Tiger match of the day, Princeton switched to pro-set scoring against Ohio State. Senior Joanna Roth came away with the only win of the afternoon with an 8-5 victory. By the end of Sunday's rounds, the Tigers had played approximately nine matches throughout the weekend.

"We take every tournament one day at a time," Sell said. "We survive and push through the weekend, but we adjust recovery time from one to two days depending on the status of the team."

The team can't expect much of a break between tournaments this time, however, as it is gearing up to play the Cissie Leary Invitational in Philadelphia next weekend.