The women’s tennis team heads to Charlottesville, Va., this weekend to play its first matches since April 18. No. 33 Princeton competes in the first round of the NCAA National Championship tournament against No. 27 University of Virginia today.
“I think it was good for our team to get a break after a tough season, and now we’re going into the tournament rested and ready to compete,” senior co-captain Melissa Saiontz said.
The Tigers (20-5 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) look to continue their successful season against the Cavaliers (14-9 overall). If they win their match on Friday, they will move on to play the winner of the matchup between Duke and Long Island University.
Princeton comes into the weekend on a 10-match win streak, and the Tigers’ 20 victories set a program record. The Tigers swept the Ivy League for their second straight league title. Virginia lost in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament to close out its season.
“Our coaches put together a great practice schedule for us, and we’ve maintained the same work ethic that helped us succeed the rest of the season,” Saiontz said.
The two teams have two common opponents, Marshall and North Carolina State. Both teams defeated Marshall, but only Virginia got past North Carolina State. Princeton has been very successful against other ranked teams, going 10-3 against ranked opponents this spring.
“Things really came together for us this year,” Saiontz said. “We have a great new coaching staff, our freshman Monica Chow has been a great addition to the team, and the team has better chemistry than ever.”
Virginia and Princeton played each other in November in the Kitty Harrison Invitational in an unusual match format. They played eight singles matches and the teams split them evenly, so Friday’s match should be a close contest.
“Virginia is a very tough team,” Saiontz said. “We just need to approach this match in the same way we did the rest of our matches this season and hopefully the results will come.”
The Tigers will look to their sophomore standout, Hilary Bartlett, to lead the team this weekend. Bartlett is the lone singles player on Princeton’s roster ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. She is ranked No. 78 individually, and Bartlett and junior Taylor Marable make up the Tigers’ only ranked doubles pair. They are ranked No. 27 in the nation for doubles. Bartlett is also a contributing writer for The Daily Princetonian.
Virginia also has a few ranked players that should be tough competition for the Tigers. The Cavaliers’ top singles player, Lindsay Hardenberg, is ranked No. 57, and they have two ranked doubles pairs.
“Virginia will benefit from the home-court advantage, but as long as we focus on the task at hand and come together as a team, we will be OK,” Saiontz said.
Princeton lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year to Florida International University in a very close 4-3 match. The Tigers have never won an NCAA tournament match in four tries, but they look to change that today against Virginia.
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