The women's tennis team was ranked 61st in the national preseason poll, higher than any of its Ivy League opponents. The Tigers are coming off a successful Intersession trip to Waco, Texas, in which they topped a strong Iowa squad but fell to No. 4 Baylor.
Their early success against opponents from larger schools was not unexpected, as the preseason rankings hinted that Princeton (3-1 overall) was the team to beat in the region.
Freshman Lauren McHale was ranked No. 5 regionally and 74th nationally. Junior Melissa Saiontz was close behind, starting the season at No. 18 in the region, while freshman Hilary Bartlett was ranked No. 25 in the region.
The doubles team of Bartlett and sophomore Taylor Marable will start the season as the No. 4 team in the region and No. 27 team in the nation, while the tandem of Saiontz and McHale was ranked No. 15 regionally and No. 29 nationally.
All the preseason accolades have boosted the confidence of the squad, which is especially young this year.
“We have seven freshmen and sophomores this year,” Sell said. “Our three freshmen came in as the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation because of their junior results. We certainly know that they are experienced.”
Only one player, Ivana King ’08, graduated from the team last year.
Melissa Saiontz’ younger sister Rachel joins McHale and Bartlett in the highly touted freshman class. The team has already relied heavily on the rookies in the early part of the year. From day one in mid-September, the three found themselves in the singles and doubles lineups.
Princeton’s fall season was full of matches against highly ranked teams, but the high level of competition did not discourage the Tigers.
“We are approaching the matches with the belief that we should win them,” sophomore Blakely Ashley said.
Having played against opponents from squads such as No. 6 Georgia and No. 8 Georgia Tech in the fall, the Tigers were well prepared for their opening matches at home against Temple and Rutgers.
The Tigers swept Temple and beat Rutgers 6-1 last Wednesday at Jadwin Gymnasium. Princeton then shipped off to Waco to play against Baylor and Iowa in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoors Tournament.
The Orange and Black fell 5-0 to a talented Baylor squad. Ashley — playing in the sixth position in singles — was the only Princeton player to pick up a set.
The team rebounded against Iowa the next day, winning 5-2. Princeton picked up wins in singles competition from Bartlett, Melissa Saiontz, and sophomores Rebecca Parks and Sarah Hoffman, as well as wins in doubles competition from the Ashley-Parks and Hoffman-Saiontz tandems.
The trip to Texas marks the beginning of the Tigers’ season-opening road trip, as they will travel up and down the East Coast for the next month.
“We are traveling almost every weekend this spring before Ivies start at the end of March,” Ashley said.
Even with the constant trekking, Ashley noted that the Tigers should be stronger than they were in the 2008 season, when the team went 12-8 in the spring.
The squad heads to North Carolina to take on Indiana and No. 9 Duke next weekend.
In the following weeks, the Tigers take on three nationally ranked opponents: No. 22 William & Mary in Virginia, No. 12 Vanderbilt in Tennessee and No. 5 Stanford in California.
Once they come back from California, the Tigers will have only four days to rest before their Ivy schedule starts. Sell, however, expects the team to perform well after the trip.
“We have had success in pretty much every tournament we have played,” she said. “If we continue to learn … we will be in a position to get better and better.”
Sell also said she had talked to the players about their confidence over the last few weeks.
“I asked the team a trick question about which team should fear us the most on our schedule,” she said. “The correct answer was that everyone should fear us.”
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