Tennis: Tigers impress in home openers with victories in all three matches

The women’s tennis team bounced back from two disappointing losses at the ECAC Championships with two strong victories, including a 4-3 battle against No. 20 Vanderbilt. The No. 63 Tigers (6-3) also beat Syracuse in a decisive 6-1 match on Sunday. On the men’s side, the Tigers knocked off St. John’s.

The Princeton women took an early lead by winning the doubles point on Saturday with strong performances from the nation’s No. 26 first doubles team, sophomore Hilary Bartlett and junior Taylor Marable, and second team, junior Sarah Hoffman and senior Melissa Saiontz.

Princeton split the singles matches, as Bartlett and sophomore Rachel Saiontz beat their opponents in straight sets and Marable dropped her first set but earned an impressive comeback victory. Bartlett defeated Vanderbilt’s No. 39 singles player, Catherine Newman.

The team was completely unfazed by the Commodores’ pedigree.

“We’ve always talked about not looking at rankings,” head coach Megan Bradley said. “They played to win, and that’s what we preach as a coaching staff.”

“Beating Vanderbilt was the biggest win in program history, and it was a match we’ve been looking forward to all season,” Bartlett said.

Though the women’s team is quite young, with only one senior on the squad, Bradley said she has been impressed with its poise.

“The good thing is they all come from experienced junior careers, so big matches aren’t new to them … They believe in what we’re doing as a team, and as they mature, they’ll only get to be better tennis players.”

The team came out firing on all cylinders against Syracuse. The women got the doubles point by sweeping all three matches, winning each one in straight sets. Marable and Bartlett fought off numerous big serves from the Orange’s Emily Harman to finally break their opponents in their 13th game of the match and easily served out the next game, winning 8-6.

“[Harman] was hitting the lines on every serve, and we just waited for an opportunity,” Bartlett said. Eventually, Marable returned one of Harman’s second serves with a shot that just barely floated over the net, catching the Syracuse sophomore completely off guard.

The singles matches progressed just as smoothly. Marable broke her opponent early and often, winning 6-4, 6-1 in the No. 5 match. Junior Blakely Ashley, Saiontz and Bartlett also defeated their opponents in straight sets.

“Obviously, individual performance is nice, but the big thing is we all came together as a team,” Marable said of the squad’s performance.

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In the men’s matches, the Tigers eked out a narrow 4-3 victory over St. John’s on Sunday. The men’s team, like the women’s, had been looking to rebound from two losses in the ECAC tournament.

The No. 71 Tigers (2-3 overall) began the day by taking the doubles point with two 8-5 victories from the first and second doubles teams of sophomore Yohei Shoji and freshman Matt Siow, and sophomore Coleman Crutchfield and junior Alex Faust, respectively.

The victories gave the team plenty to build on in preparation for the singles matches.

“Just the fact that you win the doubles point gives everyone momentum and confidence,” head coach Glenn Michibata said. “[Doubles play] is one of the things we pride ourselves on, so to come out 1-0 on top is always a great way to start the match.”

The singles matches were challenging, though, as Princeton split 3-3 with the Red Storm, and Clutchfield was the only player to win in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. Siow picked up a hard-fought victory, defending a crucial match point that Michibata called “the key point of the whole afternoon” and eventually winning 7-5, 1-6, 7-5. Senior Charlie Brosens won a rollercoaster match 6-1, 0-6, 6-1.

“The great thing about Charlie is he’s really mentally strong, and he made a stand right at the beginning of the third set to reestablish himself on top, and once he got that, the other guy kind of faded away,” Michibata said.

The men’s team is dealing with injuries to some key players, including freshman Matija Pecotic and junior Ryan Kim. But Michibata said he is focusing on the positives of the situation.

“[The injuries] have created opportunities for some of the other guys to get in there and show us what they have, and one of the guys who has taken advantage of that is Coleman Crutchfield,” he said.

“Injuries are just a part of tennis … It’s kind of just bad luck, but in the end that’s just the sport, and you just have to deal with it. I think everyone’s been stepping up and playing their role,” Crutchfield said.

Looking ahead, the women take on Iowa and Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn. next weekend, while the men will battle Northwestern in Jadwin Gymnasium on Saturday.