Men's Tennis: Tigers collect one of three at home

The Tigers (5-5 overall) hosted a trio of matches over the weekend, first squaring off against Furman University (7-7) on Saturday and then playing a doubleheader against Binghamton (8-3) and Stony Brook (6-3) on Sunday.

Saturday’s match, in which the Tigers triumphed over the Paladins, featured the characteristic strong play of seniors Peter Capkovic and Alex Vuckovic and junior George Carpeni that propelled Princeton through its recent win streak. The Tigers captured the doubles point on victories at the first and third positions, where the tandem of Vuckovic and Capkovic and pair Carpeni and freshman Yohei Shoji both picked up 8-5 wins. Capkovic and Vuckovic also captured victories at first and third singles, respectively. The final singles win came at the fifth position, where junior Charlie Brosens pulled out an exciting match to help seal the deal for the Orange and Black.

When the Tigers took the court at noon on Sunday, they had high hopes for extending their winning streak to five for the first time since 2005. They succumbed to a strong Binghamton team, however, dropping the match 5-2.

Princeton was forced to play without sophomore Alex Faust, who had to sit out the match because he was suffering from flu-like symptoms. The match started slowly for the Tigers, as they dropped the doubles point by losing at the first and second positions. The outlook didn’t improve during the singles matches, in which the Tigers’ only victories came from Capkovic and Vuckovic.

After finishing the Binghamton match at 3:30 p.m., Princeton faced a quick turnaround, as the match against Stony Brook was scheduled to begin half an hour later. As if back-to-back matches didn’t pose enough of a challenge, the Tigers entered the match short-handed, with injuries sidelining Vuckovic, Carpeni and Brosens along with Faust.

“Although it’s always tough to sit out, Charlie and I feel like we have to rest our backs so that we will be healthy for the California trip,” Vuckovic said of the team’s grueling cross-country trip planned for spring break.

Despite the numerous substitutions head coach Glenn Michibata made, the team still gave a strong effort before succumbing to Stony Brook 4-3.

“After a great day [on Saturday], we came up short [on Sunday], partly because of some injuries and illnesses that finally caught up with us,” Michibata said.

Princeton started strong, capturing the doubles point. The Tigers earned a singles point off the dependable racket of Capkovic. Sophomore Ryan Kim, who was filling in for the injured Carpeni in the second in singles, and freshman Ravi Yegya-Raman, however, were unable to earn victories. The Tigers found the match tied at two while junior Ilya Trubov, Shoji and freshman Coleman Crutchfield played on.

Though he dropped both sets, Shoji’s close match could have triggered a shift of momentum in the competition. Yet after Trubov fell at the sixth spot, the match was decided in favor of Stony Brook.

The Tigers knew they had already lost the match, but they came together to support Crutchfield, who was making his first collegiate appearance. After splitting the first two sets, Crutchfield came out strong in the third set, winning 6-1 to take his match. Though the Tigers couldn’t overcome injury to win on Sunday, the match provided an opportunity for some younger athletes to gain valuable playing time. Princeton entered Sunday’s match looking for a victory, but the Tigers were unwilling to sacrifice the health of their top players as they look ahead to spring break.

“We were looking to keep our four-match winning streak going, but at the same time, we wanted to make sure that everyone would be healthy for the West Coast,” Yegya-Raman said.