Women enter win column, men avoid first loss

As far as starting off on the right foot goes, the Tiger tennis players seem to be doing pretty well. While the men's team remains undefeated, the women's team found its stride after two losses at the beginning of the season.

The men's team defeated Army, and the women's team went 2-0 by beating East Tennessee State (2-6 overall) on Friday and Penn State (1-5) on Sunday.

After demolishing Central Florida at home, 6-1, last week, the men's team had a slightly tougher match on the road at Army in the Lichtenberg Tennis Center (1-3), but the Tigers still managed to win by a fair margin, 5-2.

Princeton's men's team (2-0) took the point in doubles, sweeping the three matches 8-3, 8-3, 8-6. The clinching doubles match was when senior Sratha Saengsuwarn paired up with sophomore Alex Krueger-Wyman to beat Army's John Houghton and Michael Good, 8-3.

The Tigers won four out of the six singles matches, clinching the overall match after Saengsuwarn defeated Houghton at the No. 1 singles position, 7-6, 6-4. The only losses came at the No. 3 and 6 singles.

"We came out firing and dominated the doubles," Saengsuwarn said. "In singles, I played ok, not too great overall, but I handled the pressure and played all the big points really well."

Krueger-Wyman won in a tough three-setter in which he overcame a one set deficit to take the match in a third-set tiebreaker over Good — 4-6, 6-3, 7-6. It was the longest match of the day.

Freshman George Carpeni breezed by Army's Eddie Kang in a quick match, 6-2, 6-0. This singles match ended before any of the others and helped to set the tone for the Orange and Black. Senior Ted Mabrey followed with another two-set victory, beating Army's Johnny Lucero, 7-6 and 6-0. After a tough first set, he pulled together to easily take the second.

Though Princeton lost two matches, junior Mark Gober fought hard, falling to Lucivero in three sets — 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

"Despite losing two of the singles matches, I was happy about the fact that our team fought hard and competed well," head coach Glenn Michibata said. "We won today despite not firing on all cylinders, which is a good sign that we are getting tougher."

The men's team will be able to recuperate for a couple of weeks before playing host to Alabama and St. Joe's.

On the women's side, after starting the season 0-2 against two top-ranked teams, the Tigers (2-2) adjusted their play to defeat both East Tennessee State (ETSU) and Penn State at home during the weekend. Princeton won both matches by a one-point margin, 4-3.

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

The Tigers started off their match against ETSU by winning the doubles point after taking two out of three matches. At third doubles, freshman Blakely Ashley and sophomore Kristen Scott blanked the Buccaneers' Elena Volubeva and Vita Moskaliova, 8-0.

Princeton split the six singles matches. Junior Ivana King won easily over ETSU's Olya Batsula, 6-2 and 6-1. The Buccaneers put some pressure on the Tigers, however, by winning the next three matches in a row.

Fortunately for the Tigers, freshman Sarah Huah and sophomore Kelly Stewart won the final two matches to pick up the win. Stewart's 7-5, 6-3 singles victory was the clincher at the end.

Against Penn State, Princeton won the doubles point by taking two out of the three matches. The two wins came at the No. 1 and 2 doubles positions.

The singles matches finished in a seesaw-type fashion. King had another great performance, winning the first match at the No. 2 singles, 6-2 and 6-0, over the Nittany Lions' Sasha Abraham. Penn State then took the No. 6 singles, while freshman Melissa Saiontz scored the No. 1 singles win over Niculescu before PSU took the No. 5 singles match.

After Ashley fell to the Lions' Jenny Shular in a hard-fought third set tiebreak, it was up to senior Darcy Robertson at the No. 3 singles. She reversed the last outcome by winning in a three-set tiebreak, in the process upping the Tigers' record to .500 on the year.

"The last two matches were so tough. Each of our players fought so hard, and it could have gone either way," King said. "Blakely [Ashley] and Darcy [Robertson] were playing incredibly, and [they were] so steady under immense pressure."

"I was just so happy I could pull it out for my teammates," Robertson said. "As a senior and a captain, I was just so happy that the younger players could see what it is like to have a huge win like that."

"There was a noticeable difference in the overall morale when it come down to the deciding moments today, and that difference was that the Princeton tennis players believed we would win," head coach Kathy Sell said. "It is something we will definitely build on, in addition to continuing to practice the things that will help us get through these matches a little bit quicker."