The men’s tennis team had a strong showing this weekend as four Tigers made it to the final day of play at the Farnsworth/Princeton Invitational.
Sophomore Matt Spindler defeated Cornell’s Evan Bernstein 6-0, 6-0 handily in the consolation bracket of the A singles flight on Saturday and defeated his teammate sophomore Matt Siow 6-3, 6-0 to advance to the consolation finals on Sunday.
Spindler’s opponent was Daniel Hoffman of Yale, a rival Spindler defeated twice last season. Hoffman had his number the third time around, however, as he defeated Spindler in three sets 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
“I think it was a good match and I felt that he played very well,” Spindler said. “I was disappointed in the way I played, and I felt that I could have played better.”
Junior Coleman Crutchfield also played Sunday in the finals of the C singles flight. Crutchfield defeated his teammate junior Ravi Yegya-Raman in a close match 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-2. In the semifinals Crutchfield eliminated Buffalo’s Marcello Mazzetto in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. Crutchfield fell to Stefan Bojic of St. John’s 6-2, 6-3 in the finals.
The Tigers had better luck in doubles.
Senior captain Alex Faust and junior Yohei Shoji defeated Buffalo’s Mazzetto and Mitch Zenaty 8-5 in the semifinals of the B doubles flight on Saturday. On Sunday, Faust and Shoji found themselves down early as Penn State’s tandem of Guanhua Chen and Taylor Cohen jumped out to an early 6-1 lead. The Princeton men refused to concede defeat and fought back to eventually win 9-7.
The Tigers were able to learn from their play, and despite experiencing some success, the team still has work to do.
“We know a little bit more of what we need to work on, where our weaknesses are,” Spindler said. “Speaking for myself, I know what I need to work on to get better. That’s what the fall season is all about: finding your game. It’s good we got the first weekend out of the way to see where we are, and now we can really start to get better.”
The weekend’s tournament showcased the depth of the team. While sophomores Matija Pecotic and Siow, who were strong players last year, struggled, others achieved success.
“We are really deep as a team” Spindler said. “I think anyone would agree [we are deep] in terms of ability going up and down the lineup. Certainly at least I have work to do, and I think we all agree that we all have work to do, but in terms of ability everyone on our team can play at a high level.”
The men’s tennis team will have an opportunity to face good competition and refine their play this weekend when they head to New York to compete in the USTA Invitational.
The women’s team also experienced some success this weekend when a portion of the team competed in the Columbia Invitational and the rest traveled to Duke to compete in the Fab Four Event.
All eyes were on the No. 8 doubles pairing of junior Hilary Bartlett and senior Taylor Marable, which won its quarterfinals matchup at Duke against Wisconsin’s Jenny Hois and Aleksandra Markovic 8-6. Bartlett and Marable faltered in the ensuing round, losing 8-1 to Monica Gorny and Hanna Mar of Duke. The pair was able to finish third in the tournament, however, by defeating Duke’s Rachel Kahan and Reka Zsilinszka 8-6 on Saturday. Bartlett is also a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian.
The Princeton women also earned some victories in singles play.
After losing her first match on Friday, No. 49 Bartlett defeated Markovic 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday. Bartlett was unable to win her next match, losing 6-4, 6-3 to Mississippi’s Abby Guthrie. She finished the tournament with a win, however, beating Bhavani Tirumurli of Purdue in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.
Junior Rachel Saiontz also had a notable victory this weekend. She defeated No. 78 Connor Vogel of Mississippi 6-4, 6-4 in a consolation match of the A singles flight.
The women’s tennis team will continue to work on their game and play in individual tournaments when they travel to Philadelphia this weekend to compete in the Cissie Leary Invitational.
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