Top 20 opponents dominate all courts

The Princeton women’s team (7-6) first battled the No. 11 North Carolina Tar Heels (12-5) on March 15, losing 7-0. The Tigers then faced No. 55 Illinois (6-8) on Wednesday, this time winning in dramatic fashion with a score of 4-3.

The men’s team (8-5), which is currently ranked No. 64 in the nation, faced a series of four opponents in five days, beginning last Monday with a tough 5-2 loss to No. 56 San Diego State (8-5). The Tigers quickly rebounded to convincingly beat Utah (7-5) on Wednesday, 5-2. The team kept rolling Thursday with an even more forceful 6-1 victory over Loyola Marymount (7-7). Friday brought the Tigers a true challenge in the form of No. 15 Pepperdine (8-6), a task that proved too difficult for the Tigers, as they lost 7-0.

The women clearly had a difficult start to their week. Though they were unranked, the Tigers challenged one of the best teams in the country when they took on North Carolina. The first three singles players for the Tar Heels are individually ranked Nos. 10, 26 and 100, so Princeton’s top three singles players clearly had their work cut out for them. The 7-0 defeat belies how close the match really was. Princeton’s sophomore No. 1 Melissa Saiontz put up a respectable 6-4, 6-3 fight, while both senior No. 2 Ivana King and freshman No. 3 Taylor Marable forced tiebreaks.

“This is just another example of the willingness of our team to play the highest-ranked teams,” head coach Kathy Sell said. “We were very well prepared for it. It put our schedule in perspective and helped us to remind ourselves why we play tough teams.”

The Tigers then validated this desire by taking down Illinois. No. 3 Marable again had an excellent day, stepping up in the No. 1 doubles spot to help the team pick up two points. Marable’s doubles effort was crucial to the Tigers’ 4-3 victory, as the last two singles finishes were losses.

“Tennis is such a mental game, we need to work on developing our mindset,” Sell said. “It is only a weakness against the best teams, but that is who we want to play.”

With a top-ranked opponent looming as the fourth and final game of the week, the men’s team knew it had to play extremely well to come out of the week with more wins than losses. The Tigers started the week off quite well against San Diego by winning the doubles point, an aspect of their game that has been inconsistent. This, however, was followed by losing five of the six singles matchups, sealing the victory for San Diego.

The Tigers bounced back from this defeat to play some determined tennis against Utah, who proved to be a test despite being unranked. Again clinching the doubles point, the Tigers needed only three singles victories to win the match. Though five of six singles matches went to three sets, Princeton was able to pull out four wins. The most outstanding singles performance was a 6-1, 6-2 victory from sophomore No. 6 Ilya Trubov, as Princeton took the 5-2 victory.

The win against Loyola Marymount was the most dominating of the week. The Tigers began by losing a total of eight games across their three doubles victories to sweep the point. Singles play was also controlled by Princeton, with junior No. 2 Alex Krueger-Wyman and sophomore No. 3 George Carpeni both winning in straight sets finishing with tiebreaks. Junior No. 1 Peter Capkovic sealed the match with his three-set win, and two more singles wins followed.

Pepperdine played up to its No. 15 ranking when it faced the Tigers. Princeton knew it would be a difficult match, as the Waves boast three nationally ranked singles players. Princeton narrowly missed winning the doubles point, with a 9-8 defeat at No. 1 and an 8-6 loss at No. 2. The Tigers were able to hold their own in singles play, led by No. 3 Krueger-Wyman, who only lost each set by a single break. Ultimately, Princeton could not convert any of the singles matches. It was a tough loss, but the 7-0 score failed to reflect how close several of the individual matches were.

The spring break trip also marked the return of junior Alex Vuckovic, a normal starter who has struggled with a back injury. Against San Diego State, Vuckovic played both doubles and No. 5 singles, but for the rest of the week he played only doubles.

“We are treating [Vuckovic’s injury] very conservatively,” head coach Glenn Michibata said. “We weren’t going to push it. His return really lifted our doubles.”

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The men’s and women’s teams both face Penn in their Ivy League openers Saturday. The Quakers are the returning men’s Ivy League champion, so the Tigers will surely have a difficult battle. Michibata echoed some of Sell’s comments.

“We need to play tough teams on a regular basis,” Michibata said. “We need to get used to the intensity.”

Both squads will definitely have their chance Saturday.