Doubles teams fall at UNC invite

This is probably not the way the women's tennis team envisioned ending their fall season. A week ago the Tigers returned from North Carolina having won 30 of 39 matches at the Duke Invitational Tournament.

This week the Tigers, with the top four players in their lineup absent, went back to North Carolina to participate in the Kitty Harrison Invitational Tournament held at UNC, and the results were not as inspiring.

At the tournament, the Tigers played in a round robin format against teams from Virginia, Kentucky, UNC, Marshall and Miami. Saturday afternoon, the Tigers opened up play with a singles match against UVA.

Sophomore Ivana King of Princeton took on UVA's No. 1 Amanda Rales in her best effort of the weekend.

"[With] every ball there was purpose to it, I was pushing every shot back deep," King said.

Nevertheless, the top dog from UVA proved too much for King, and she went on to lose the match 6-2, 6-3. UVA took an early lead in the singles match when Maggie Yahner defeated sophomore Sarah Huah in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.

The momentum soon turned in favor of Princeton, as sophomore Blakely Ashley came back from a first-set loss of 1-6 against Lara Alexander to win the next set at 7-6. In the third set tiebreak, Ashley rallied to an 11-9 victory. Teammate junior Kirsten Scott also rallied from one set behind her opponent Anna Lee Evans to level the match at one set apiece, 5-7, 6-2, before taking the match with a 10-7 victory in the tiebreak played in lieu of a third set.

Freshmen Sarah Hoffman had an easier time in her match, taking out UVA's Hampton Williams 6-2, 6-3, while junior Kelly Stewart downed Lauren Downing 6-2, 7-5.

The doubles matches proved less successful for the Princeton squad. The team of Farah and Seenauth from Miami teamed up to take out Ashley and Huah, 8-5. Later on, the Miami team of Eichkorn and Vallverdu rolled over Stewart and King, 8-2.

It was more bad news for Princeton's doubles teams when they took on duos from Marshall University. Scott and Stewart lost a tough match 6-8 to Schwartz and Ralch. Earlier, King and Hoffman were eliminated by their opponents from Marshall, Schartz and Ralch, 8-2. The final blow to the doubles lineup came when Ashley teamed up with Huah to take on the team of Soar and Kashkelkina. They lost that match, 8-3.

It wasn't all bad news for Ashley. Sunday, she took out Maryland's Julia Hushke 6-4, 6-2.

"It was great to get a win over an ACC school," she said after the match.

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In the same match against Maryland, King fought her way to a 6-4, 5-7, 11-9 victory over Meg Sandre. When asked about the tight score, King confessed that she "choked" sometime late in the second set.

"[In the tiebreak,] I was leading 6-1 and then 10-5. At that point I stopped hitting the ball," King said.

Fortunately, she managed to break out of her rut.

"I was thinking to myself that this wasn't the way I wanted to end the fall season," King said. "I got kind of lucky in the tiebreak. At 9-9, the ball hit tape and went over on her side."

She was not thrilled with her performance.

"It was one of those matches where you know what you're supposed to do, but you don't do it," King said.

The next match for the nine-member squad will not be until Jan. 30, when they will face Temple. Though the Tigers faced a number of formidable opponents this weekend, they are optimistic about their chances in the Ivy League.

"We were missing half of our lineup," King said. "So it's a different dynamic."