“We competed hard and got some huge wins,” freshman Monica Chow said. Chow scored a big win over Sasha Krupina of Georgia Tech on Sunday. “Our goal going into the tournament was to compete well, do our best and come out with as many wins as we could, and we more than accomplished our goal. We not only showed these top-ranked schools — who are consistently competing for the NCAA title — that we belonged on the same court as them, but also that we are just as competent.”
UNC hosted the tournament this past weekend, enabling Princeton to face tough Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) competitors, including the host school, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, William & Mary, the University of Maryland and North Carolina State. Played in a hidden dual, round-robin style, the tournament was structured so that each school mixed and matched players from various teams. Overall team scores were not kept.
The tournament boasted a grueling schedule: The nine Princeton women played a total of 41 matches, 30 singles and 11 doubles, forcing many team members to play up to three matches in one day. And while the other teams played their matches indoors, Princeton braved the 40-degree weather and winds.
But the Tigers were more than up to the challenge. On the first day, the team captured eight of 15 singles matches against Virginia and Maryland and swept its four doubles matches against Virginia Tech and UNC.
Sophomore Rachel Saiontz snagged a major win over No. 54 Emily Fraser of Virginia in a nice display of power and endurance. Sophomore Hilary Bartlett and juniors Sarah Hoffman and Rebecca Parks each recorded two victories on Friday.
Maintaining its drive, Princeton took three singles games against UNC and three doubles matches against North Carolina State and Virginia on Saturday.
Two of the singles wins came against top 100-ranked players from UNC. Bartlett defeated 34th-ranked Katrina Tsang, and senior Melissa Saiontz prevailed over 91st-ranked Shinann Featherston — matching her sister’s brilliance of the previous day.
The duo of Bartlett and junior Taylor Marable was equally successful. Their doubles win over Sandhya Nagaraj and Berkeley Brock of North Carolina State preserved their formidable No. 21 ranking.
Princeton closed the tournament on a high note. On Sunday, the Tigers captured six of seven singles matches against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. The wins came from Saiontz, Chow, Marable, junior Blakely Ashley, Hoffman and Parks.
Doubles, however, did not fare as well. Princeton fell to teams from Texas Christian University, Florida and UNC in all three matches.
Despite the Tigers’ doubles showing on Sunday, the tournament was the pinnacle of a highly productive and successful season.
Head coach Megan Bradley and assistant coach Amanda Rales “did an awesome job in helping us achieve our goals,” Chow said. “They were a huge factor in helping us progress over the fall, and they helped us finish the season strong.”
The Tigers will have a long wait until they hit the courts agin. Princeton will have its next chance to prove its power on Jan. 27, when it will host Temple and Seton Hall on the indoor courts at Jadwin Gymasium.
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