Tennis: Tigers take two, leave Penn blue

Princeton opened the day by taking the doubles point on the strength of the first doubles team of freshman Hilary Bartlett and sophomore Taylor Marable and the second team of freshmen Lauren McHale and Rachel Saiontz.

The success at doubles was followed by two quick victories at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, where Saiontz and sophomore Blakely Ashley, respectively. defeated their opponents in straight sets.

McHale and Bartlett also earned convincing victories at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, giving the Tigers a 5-0 lead to clinch the match. The No. 3 and No. 4 matches, however, proved more interesting, as Marable and junior Melissa Saiontz each gutted out tough three-set wins after dropping the first set.

“We are really excited to have pulled out every match, a great result for this team, but this was the culmination of a lot of hard work on every court,” head coach Kathy Sell said. “Even Blakely and Rachel, who finished first, were working really hard for their results.”

The Tigers will continue their Ivy League slate Friday when they travel to New Haven, Conn., looking to avenge their February loss to Yale in the ECAC Tournament. Yale is currently ranked No. 45 and likely represents the biggest challenge to Princeton’s title hopes.

The Tigers, however, said they think they are a better team now than they were in February, and they embrace the opportunity to have another shot at Yale.

“We learned a lot from our match with Yale in February, and I know the team is looking forward to playing them again,” Sell said. “As the defending champions, I expect Yale to be poised and competitive. However, I also have an extreme belief in our team, and so I’m excited to be part of the upcoming dual match. Overall, we are stronger than we were in February, and we are coming together as a confident, competitive team.”

Despite facing an early deficit, the men’s tennis team pulled out a tough 4-3 victory over Penn on Friday to open its Ivy League schedule. The No. 73 Tigers (8-6 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) maintained their composure, using several late wins to take a match that appeared in doubt at many points throughout the afternoon.

“I’ll be honest: It was not looking good for most of the afternoon. But the guys did a great job of keeping their focus on the things they could control,” head coach Glenn Michibata said. “I felt that by the end of the match, we were the team going for our shots and playing with more belief.”

Princeton got off to a slow start, losing the doubles’ point despite a victory by the first doubles team of seniors Peter Capkovic and Alex Vuckovic. Penn also picked up victories at the No. 3 and No. 6 positions before Princeton could turn the tide. The turning point of the match was the No. 2 singles match, which Vuckovic won despite finding himself in an early hole.

Vuckovic dropped the first set 6-1 and then fell behind 4-1 in the second. He turned the tide, however, and managed to earn a victory 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. Michibata credited Vuckovic’s win to his ability to continue his aggressive play and not get discouraged.

“At the point when Alex was down 6-1, 4-1, it seemed that his opponent had all the answers,” Michibata said. “We decided that he would play aggressively no matter what happened, and things started to turn around. I think a big part of that comeback was that Alex didn’t let his intensity drop. It was a situation where he had his back to the wall and was determined to go down fighting.”

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Capkovic and sophomore Ryan Kim also emerged victorious from tough three-set contests. Kim rebounded from losing a second-set tiebreak, and Capkovic won his third set after losing the second 6-3. The match-clinching victory came at the No. 5 spot, where sophomore Alex Faust won in straight sets after claiming the first-set tiebreak.

“Coming through such a tough match where we were on the brink of defeat will give our team confidence and belief that we can handle any situation if we stick to the things we have been working on,” Michibata said. “We could have easily been rattled, but we kept our composure. We kept fighting and playing one point at a time.”