Women end season on four-game win streak

The men’s team (9-11 overall, 1-6 Ivy League) lost at Columbia (10-6, 5-2) by a score of 5-2. The Tigers then put up quite a fight on Sunday but eventually fell to Cornell (8-11, 3-4) in a 4-3 match that was decided by the final singles matchup. The women’s team defeated Columbia (2-15, 0-7) by a 6-1 final score at home and continued rolling on Sunday against Cornell (9-7, 2-5) with a 5-2 victory in Ithaca.

The men’s team has fought a losing battle against injuries all season, and this weekend was much of the same. On Friday against Columbia, the two healthy starters, junior No. 1 Peter Capkovic and sophomore No. 2 George Carpeni, were the only Tigers to win their singles matchups. The team even failed to win the doubles point, one of its strengths when everyone is playing healthy. The rest of the team, either playing injured or watching from the sidelines, watched as No. 3 through No. 6 fell in straight sets.

On Sunday, Princeton truly played to its potential, but it just was not enough against Cornell. Early in the morning on game day, freshman No. 3 Ryan Kim was sent to McCosh Health Center with the flu, so yet another name was added to the laundry list of players on the disabled list. Taking his place at No. 3 was freshman Alex Faust, who has played some doubles and occasionally singles this season but never as high as No. 3. Faust was able to take down his opponent, 6-1, 7-6, which kept the match interesting, tying the score at three.

“Alex played really smart, really composed,” head coach Glen Michibata said. “He won No. 3 singles as a walk-on — he really stepped up.”

The women’s team hit its stride late in the season. After starting an inconsistent 1-2 in Ivy League play, the Tigers were able to pull it all together to win their last four and finish third in the conference. Columbia, the last-place team in the Ivy League, did not stand much of a chance, as Princeton won five singles matches in straight sets, including an impressive 6-0, 6-0 victory from freshman No. 5 Sarah Hoffman.

The Tigers did not let up on Sunday, finishing off Cornell in similar fashion, this time with four straight-set victories. Freshman No. 3 Taylor Marable finished her season with a perfect 7-0 Ivy League season, while senior No. 1 Ivana King won her last match at Princeton, finishing the year with a team-leading 13 singles wins. While King will be missed for her contributions to the team, she is the only player not returning next year, giving the women’s team the chance to get better and reload for a shot at the Ivy League title next year.

The men were the favorites to win the title this year, but those hopes were dashed after the first Ivy League match.

“We started off by beating the defending champions [Penn], and I thought we were in the driver’s seat,” Michibata said. “It is hard to take knowing that you could have won it all. As long as we are recovered, we should be the hands-down favorite next year.”

The men’s team will lose seniors Andrew Husby, Mark Gober at doubles and Jonathan Leslie at singles, but the starting singles lineup will remain entirely intact. A blue-chip recruit as well as a four-star recruit from the Class of 2012 will also join the men’s team next year, which should put the Tigers in a commanding position to win the Ivy League title assuming injuries are not an issue.