As the top team in the Northeast and current Ivy League champion, the women’s tennis team is focused on defending its Ivy League title and making the NCAA tournament.
“The great thing about sports is that anyone can win on any given day,” head coach Megan Bradley said. “We have to be prepared for every single match for the rest of the year. If you look at the Ivy finish from last year, Yale, Harvard and Dartmouth will all be really tough matches, but we aren’t taking anyone lightly.”
Over spring break, the women’s team traveled south to play No. 58 College of Charleston and No. 40 North Carolina State.
The match against Charleston may have started rough, with the No. 28 Tigers (12-5) losing the doubles point 1-2, but after a strong singles rally, it was Melissa Saiontz’s win that guaranteed Princeton’s 4-3 victory.
North Carolina State also picked up the doubles point, but this time Princeton was unable to gain the singles upper hand. The 1-4 loss ended the Tigers’ six-match winning streak against ranked teams.
Princeton had an encouraging weekend, going undefeated and ending spring break with 7-0 wins against both Penn State (4-10) and Boston University (7-8).
In both matches, players had to be flexible as they competed with new partners and switched rankings.
Against Penn State, junior Blakely Ashley and freshman Monica Chow played No. 3 doubles together for the first time and won 8-2. Senior Melissa Saiontz and sophomore Rachel Saiontz also competed together at No. 2 doubles despite not having practiced together this year.
“I think the weekend sweeps were more important for our confidence heading into the Ivy portion of our season,” Bradley said. “The Ivy teams are really tough this year in comparison to years past, and really having momentum heading into those matches will be nothing but a benefit.”
Chow, the sole freshman on the team, held her own on Sunday against Boston University by winning 7-5, 6-0 at the No. 5 singles position.
“She has been working hard the past few weeks to find her game, and I think all of that hard work paid off in her singles match,” Bradley said.
Against Boston University, all the players except for sophomore Hilary Bartlett had to move up in the lineup because of an absence. Regardless, the Tigers were still able to pick up the doubles point, and they won all singles matches.
“It is great as a coach to see the members of your team be able to step up, and I think it shows the depth of our lineup when everyone can move up one position and still win their matches,” Bradley said.
While the women’s team was on campus, the men’s team traveled down to sunny Florida to compete.
In Florida, the men’s team dropped to No. 31 Denver, No. 61 Central Florida and South Florida.
Senior co-captain Charlie Brosens rallied to provide Princeton’s only singles points against Denver and South Florida.
To end the trip, the Tigers (4-10) rebounded from a 6-1 loss to No. 45 Miami (6-6) with a 4-3 win against Florida Atlantic University (9-6).
“We played well in doubles overall this past weekend,” head coach Glenn Michibata said. “Against highly ranked Miami, our No. 1 and No. 2 teams lost very close 8-7 and 9-7 matches.”
Pecotic, who had previously been hurt, successfully tipped the overall match in Princeton’s favor with a three-set victory over the Owls’ Lawrence Harradine.
Though Pecotic has recovered, freshman Matt Siow is now out due to an ankle injury.
“Matija was able to play on back-to-back days, which was really encouraging,” Michibata said. “We need Matt Siow to get healthy in order to improve our chances of winning an Ivy title.”
Despite the loss to Miami, freshman Michael Lin won his first dual match for Princeton.
“The biggest improvement has been the play of our freshmen. All four of them are playing key roles on the team,” Michibata said.
Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams begin their Ivy League season against Penn on Saturday.
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