Tennis: Women face Yale in battle between Ivy League’s top teams

No. 33 Princeton (14-5 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) easily defeated Penn and could be the top Northeast team, but No. 66 Brown (12-4) and No. 40 Yale (11-4) have both had good seasons. The Bulldogs are the second-highest ranked Ivy League team, after Princeton.

“We are certainly expecting difficult matches this weekend, as both of the teams have proved over the course of the season that they are tough and have good depth,” head coach Megan Bradley said. “I think at this point in the season, we just need to go out there and compete”.

In tennis, leads are fickle, as one small slip can quickly lead to losing consecutive sets. According to Bradley, the team is working on playing in pressured or tight situations to prepare for this weekend.

“I think what the girls did so well against Penn is that they played efficient tennis. Now that we are into April, people are starting to wear down from the season, so being able to play efficiently and not waste a lot of energy will only help us going forward,” Bradley said.

Conserving energy won’t be Princeton’s only advantage going into the matches.

“Throughout the course of the season, the girls have been playing high-percentage tennis,” Bradley said. “They have been serving well, returning well and playing aggressively at the appropriate times. Each player has their own ‘bread and butter’ that helps them in pressure situations, like [junior] Taylor Marable’s volleys, or [senior] Melissa Saiontz’s drop shot.”

The Tigers are also concentrating on picking up the doubles point by putting together the best doubles lineup and trying out different partnerships.

“It speaks a lot about our girls that they are always willing to change it up to give the team the best chance to win,” Bradley said.

On the men’s side, the Ivy League field is wide open, as all the teams are relatively evenly matched.

“We all have strengths and weaknesses, and it will all come down to which team puts it all together at the right time,” head coach Glenn Michibata said. “We were able to do that last weekend against UPenn but we can’t take it for granted that it will happen again.”

Luckily for Princeton (5-10, 1-0), the team is almost at full health, with formerly injured players slowly working their way back into the lineup in time to play against Brown (10-9) and Yale (11-6).

“The team has grown a lot this season — they were almost forced to because of all the adversity thrown their way,” Michibata said.

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The four freshmen — Matt Siow, Matt Spindler, Michael Lin and Matija Pecotic — certainly are familiar with this. All four have been thrown into higher-ranked positions because of injured players, yet they still produce consistent wins.

“We did a good job of stepping up during pressure situations last weekend,” Michibata said. “I can’t think of one instance where we backed off a shot during a big moment. Of course, we didn’t make every shot, but I was happy about the way the guys made good decisions and committed to their choices.”

Senior co-captain Charlie Brosens has also stepped up for the team, playing the No. 1 singles position for most of the season.

Brosens defeated Penn’s Eugen Brazdil last weekend in a heated match, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.

“Every team, no matter how low they are ranked, will have a very good player at No. 1 singles, so Charlie has a tough match every time. He’s done a great job in this role,” Michibata said.

The doubles teams have also been strong all season, consistently picking up the doubles point almost every match.

So what will it take to defeat Brown and Yale and make Princeton a serious contender for the Ivy League championship?

“Complete focus on each and every point,” Michibata said.