Tennis: Princeton plays for Ivy title

“The fact that we’ve won 4-3 five times in a row shows that we aren’t afraid of pressure and that we are mentally superior and more ferocious than other teams,” sophomore Matija Pecotic said. “It [also] goes to show how good every team has become. There is no clear favorite, and there is not [a] definite underdog.”

Pecotic was named the GoPrincetonTigers.com Athlete of the Week after winning two matches at the No. 1 singles spot. He has won all five singles matches in Ivy League play this season, dropping only one set.

“It’s a great honor, but it doesn’t really concern me for the time being,” said Pecotic. “My mission is not complete yet. All I’m thinking about is today’s practice and improving a little bit more.”

The 5-0 Ivy League start is Princeton’s best since transitioning from the Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association to the Ivy League in the 1998-99 season.

“This Ivy season has been an unbelievable experience for me,” freshman Dan Richardson said. “Being a freshman, I knew that Ivy matches were pretty exciting, but this year has just been crazy. Making this run and having the opportunity to win an Ivy League Championship is something that you always dream about.”

“As for maintaining our run, the key is for us to live in the moment,” he added. “Since our team is young, it is easy for us to think that we have more years ahead of us in case this year does not work out. However, we all know that chances like this may never come around again.”

Last Sunday’s match against Harvard was the first time in the Ivy League season that the Tigers picked up the doubles point, as the hosts won tiebreakers on the first and second courts. Before facing the Crimson, the Tigers had lost the doubles point in their five matches.

“We have great doubles teams, but until the Harvard match we were on the short end by a couple of points here and there. Winning the doubles point and starting the match up 1-0 on Sunday gives us a lot of confidence moving forward to the matches this weekend,” sophomore Matt Siow said. “We have been fortunate to rely on the strength of our singles so far, so now it is great to have everything clicking once again.”

Besides being the only two undefeated teams in the Ivy League, the Big Red (21-4, 4-0) and the Tigers also share another more intriguing similarity: Both teams have yet to win an Ivy League match by more than one point.

However, the Tigers will have to dispatch the Lions (7-13, 1-3) on Friday before the impending showdown against the Big Red in a potential matchup of undefeated teams on Sunday. Two victories this weekend would give Princeton its first undefeated conference season since it went 9-0 in the EITA in 1980.

“[Cornell has] strong doubles teams, along with good singles players throughout their lineup. We’re going to prepare for them the same way we’ve prepared for the other Ivy League teams,” senior Alex Faust said. “We are confident in our abilities and excited for the match, but our first concern is Columbia ... They’re definitely a strong team — they beat Yale 4-3 and lost a close 4-3 match to Brown — and we’re expecting another dogfight. That match is all we’re thinking about right now. Once it’s over, we’ll move on to Cornell.”

The Tigers will have to move on to Cornell pretty quickly as the Big Red boasts a 21-4 overall record and an 11-0 record at home, which Richardson attributes to Cornell’s “pretty nasty” crowd. The Big Red features five seniors and thus has plenty of experience.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

“I hope that we can come away with the feeling of having no regrets,” Richardson said. “When you get to this level, the teams are all talented, it’s just about who wants it more. If we leave it all on the line, then there’s nothing more that we can do.”

The No. 50 women’s team (10-9, 3-2) ranks fifth in the Ivy League and has been all but eliminated from contention for its third consecutive conference championship; the only way it could finish at the top would be as part of a five-way tie at 5-2, which remains possible. Brown and Dartmouth are undefeated in league play while Yale and Harvard each have one loss.

The Tigers, one of five ranked teams in the league, travel to Columbia (9-11, 0-5) on Friday and return home to face Cornell (9-9, 1-4) on Sunday.