Both squads finish Ivy League season with third place finish

Both the men's and women's tennis teams played their last matches against Columbia and Cornell this weekend, finishing with identical third place Ivy League finishes. The men (12-6 overall, 5-2 Ivy League) split their final weekend, while the women (13-7, 5-2) swept their opponents.

Friday afternoon at Lenz Tennis Center, the No. 70 men's team lost 3-4 to No. 72 Columbia (15-4, 6-1), with the Lions simultaneously destroying the Tigers' four-match win streak and their hope for an Ivy title.

Princeton began strongly by winning the doubles point. In singles, both sophomore No. 1 Peter Capkovic and senior captain No. 2 Sratha Saengsuwarn took down their opponents. The Lions, however, captured wins at No. 3 and No. 6, leaving the match at 3-2.

At No. 4, sophomore Alex Krueger-Wyman faced Marty Moore, losing his first set 6-4 and squeezing out a tiebreak win in the second. Moore shifted the momentum in the third, ultimately defeating Krueger-Wyman.

Princeton came within two points of overall victory during sophomore No. 5 Alex Vuckovic's match. After splitting sets, Vuckovic was up 5-4 in the third set with a game score of 30-30. He was unable to close it out, however, and finally lost 2-6, 7-5, 7-6.

"[It] was really a heartbreaking loss," head coach Glenn Michibata said. "I wasn't disappointed with the team's effort and focus ... it was just a really hard-fought match."

Though their hopes for a share of the Ivy title were dashed, the Tigers finished the season strong with a 5-2 win at Cornell.

Princeton beat five Big Red opponents in singles to clinch the victory, with both Saengsuwarn and Vuckovic coming back from first-set losses to win their second and third sets.

"The team showed great character in rebounding from the crushing defeat Friday to take down a very strong Cornell team," senior Ted Mabrey said.

This is an unsurprising feat for one of the best Princeton men's teams in several years.

"We achieved a high national ranking of No. 63 at one point," Mabrey said. "[We] were able to reverse our record in the Ivy League from 2-5 last year to 5-2 this year."

The Tigers were particularly strong in their top two singles spots, as No. 1 Capkovic garnered a No. 100 national ranking at one point, and No. 2 Saengsuwarn acquired a 12-3 individual record.

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The women had a happier ending facing Columbia, ending their season with a flourish.

Princeton swept the Lions (4-10, 1-6), losing only one doubles match to dominate Columbia, 7-0. Out of 12 singles sets, the Tigers won six with a 6-0 score, and none of them ended closer than 6-3. Freshmen No. 1 Melissa Saiontz and No. 5 Sarah Huah blasted their opponents with particularly impressive 6-0, 6-0 performances.

"The Columbia match spoke a lot to the character of the Princeton team because we went out on every single court and we were a team that was ready to fight," head coach Kathy Sell said. "It was very clear that the Princeton team was very mentally focused and prepared to compete."

This was also true of the team on Sunday, as they took down Cornell (10-6, 3-4) at home in its season finale. After snatching the doubles point with a tiebreaker win at No. 2, the Tigers went on to triumph in four of the six singles matches.

The two starting Princeton seniors were the last left playing on the court, as both No. 2 Darcy Robertson and No. 6 Joanna Roth took their final collegiate matches into third sets.

After splitting the first two sets 3-6 and 6-3, Roth found success in her tiebreaking third set pro-set. Robertson found herself in a similarly tough third-set situation. She faced 10 match points and was eventually defeated.

"Without [Darcy], I wouldn't have made it through," Roth said. "I'm happy to be at the end and see how amazing we've become."

The women concluded their successful season with four consecutive wins and dropped only two singles matches during their five Ivy triumphs. The Tigers' national ranking peaked at No. 50, and rookie Saiontz reached No. 78 in singles. Junior Ivana King also had an exceptional season, finishing 17-2.

The men will return three sophomores and two freshmen starters, and the women will return a junior and three seniors. With plenty of youth, the teams should be able to accomplish even more in the years to come.