Pecotic earns 22nd straight Ivy victory

The men’s tennis team ended its regular season with two matches over the weekend. The No. 48 Tigers (16-6 overall, 5-2 Ivy League) faced No. 51 Cornell (14-8, 3-4) on Friday in Ithaca, winning in a solid 5-2 victory. On Princeton's Senior Day on Sunday, the Tigers faced No. 47 Columbia (15-7, 5-2), losing in a close 4-3 battle. The No. 73 women (12-7, 4-3) beat Cornell (14-4, 3-4) with the same score as the men, 5-2, on Friday but also fell to No. 65 Columbia (12-5, 6-1) 7-0 on Sunday.

Against Cornell, the men began strong, clinching the doubles point by winning in the top two doubles spots. Both teams of senior Matija Pecotic and sophomore Zack McCourt and junior Dan Davies and senior Matt Spindler won, with scores of 8-5 and 8-3, respectively.

In singles play, Princeton once again put up a noteworthy performance in order to secure another win for the Tigers. At fourth singles, junior Dan Richardson finished his match with a solid 6-2, 6-4 win against Cornell’s Quoc-Daniel Nguyen. At sixth singles, freshman rookie Jonathan Carcione quickly followed suit, winning 6-4, 6-4. Pecotic, playing first singles, then clinched the match with a second set tiebreaker, winning his match against Venkat Iyer 6-3, 7-6. At fifth singles, senior Matt Siow brought in the last point for the Tigers, winning his match in three sets, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

On their Senior Day, the Tigers faced the Lions at home. Columbia began strong, defeating the Davies and Spindler duo at second doubles with a score of 8-5. The next two doubles points were both played in tight matches. At first doubles, Pecotic and McCourt fought hard against Columbia's pair of Ashok Narayana and Max Schnur. The match stayed close until 8-7, when McCourt's strong volleying was too much for the Lions, and Princeton took the first doubles point 9-7.

The third doubles team of Siow and junior Augie Bloom went into a close tiebreaker. Under pressure, Princeton minimized errors, and with a few strategically hit balls, built a solid 6-1 lead. Siow closed it out with a running forehand passing shot in the doubles alley to give the Tigers the doubles point.

In singles, the Tigers and Lions stayed competitive, as each team would win matches one after the other. Pecotic won the last regular season match of his career wearing the black and orange after his opponent forfeited at 3-0. The win earned Pecotic his 22nd consecutive win in the Ivy League, and he finishes Ivy play undefeated for the third consecutive season.

“It’s unbelievable,” Pecotic said about his success this season. “When I first came here, I didn’t even know if I was going to be in the top six, and I just wanted to find somewhere to contribute. I just focused on being the best player I could be, and the stars had to align."

Still maintaining a slight lead at 3-2, after Columbia had won the fouth and fifth singles points and Carcione had brought in the sixth with a score of 6-4, 6-4, the Tigers were left with Spindler and McCourt to earn the clinching point.

The large crowd of fans that attended the match at Lenz Tennis Courts for the final match of the reguar season erupted with noise at each close point that Princeton won throughout the match.

“I couldn’t have imagined a better environment,” Pecotic said. “My family was here — they flew out from Malta. There was a huge crowd of my closest friends, my thesis adviser was here and a lot of alumni, and everyone has been huge contributors to our greatness.”

Spindler played a hard match at second singles, falling to Columbia's Dragos Ignat in his third set, finishing the match at 6-4, 3-6, 4-6. With only third singles left and the score tied at 3-3, the team looked to McCourt for the last point. McCourt fought back hard in the third set — down 4-1 — and rallied back with a strong break to bring the score closer at 5-3. However, after being stuck at deuce for several points, McCourt fell to Narayana in a tough three setter, 7-5, 6-7, 3-6, and the Lions took the victory. Princeton and Columbia are now tied for second in the Ivy League standings, with Harvard (17-4, 5-0) leading in first.

The women’s team played against Cornell at home on Friday. The first doubles pair of sophomores, Joan Cannon and Lindsay Graff, won at first doubles with a score of 8-6. However, the other two Princeton pairs fell to Columbia, and the Tigers lost the doubles point.

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

In singles, the women had more success, as they would win five of the six singles points. The first four wins at first, second, third and fifth singles came quickly, as they were won by solid margins all around by the Tigers. The match was clinched in an exciting win by sophomore Joan Cannon as she won her tough three-set match 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.

On Sunday, the women played Columbia on the Lions' home courts. The Tigers had trouble against the No. 65 Lions as they swept every match to win by a decisive score of 7-0. Freshman Emily Hahn came closest to winning a match for Princeton at fifth singles, as Columbia's Katarina Kovacevic dropped Hahn in a close 6-2, 0-6, 6-7 match.

The NCAA will announce the men's Division I teams selected to compete in the NCAA tournament April 30 at 5 p.m., and the women's teams selections will be announced at 5:30 p.m. The announcement for the men's and women's selections for the NCAA individual tournament is planned for May 1 at 6 p.m.