In the sports world, April is a pretty great month. You’ve got the NCAA basketball Final Four, MLB Opening Day, the start of the NBA and NHL playoffs, and even the Boston Marathon (for the six people outside of Boston who actually care).
For five innings at St. John’s on Tuesday night, everything was going right for the baseball team. Senior righthander Ross Staine was shutting out the Red Storm in his first start of the season, the defense was playing well, and the offense was getting hits. The Tigers, underdogs heading into the game, were well on their way to an upset.
Spinning at Dillon Gymnasium will be more meaningful than usual today, as the gym will be hosting its second annual Spinathon to promote Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for pediatric cancer.
The women’s water polo team finished its regular season action this weekend by building its five-game win streak heading into postseason play. Princeton beat Maryland 13-4 on Saturday and George Washington 9-7 on Sunday at their respective pools.
All four of Princeton’s crews competed last weekend, each taking part in exciting races.
Rugby players and coaches often talk about the importance of playing with intensity for the full 80 minutes of a match. As everyone in attendance can likely attest, the men’s rugby team did exactly that on Saturday in the Koranda Cup match against Yale, but it still came up short in a 19-9 loss despite a 6-5 halftime lead.
It was a successful weekend for the men’s track and field team, which hosted 25 teams at the 10th annual Larry Ellis Invitational at Weaver Track on Friday and Saturday. Five Tigers won their events in the home meet. Meanwhile, the women’s team sent athletes to California and Florida where they also had positive results.
In their final tournaments before next weekend’s Ivy League Championships, the men’s golf team finished second and the women’s team took seventh last weekend.
Last weekend, the men’s volleyball team secured a berth in Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association postseason play. This weekend, the Tigers (13-9 overall, 5-5 EIVA) proved their readiness by defeating Rutgers-Newark (13-12) in five sets.
Senior pitcher Jamie Lettire’s new home run record was certainly an asset to the softball team this weekend as it won three of four games in its weekend series with Columbia.
After two tight games that called into question its offensive ability and willingness to win, the men’s lacrosse team knew that it needed to earn a strong and decisive victory to regain its confidence and get back on track.
Last year, trailing eventual division winner Cornell, the baseball team took three of four games from Columbia to get back in contention for the Gehrig Division title. This year, however, with the team facing a similar situation, Princeton’s four-game set with the Lions played out exactly the opposite. The Tigers won only one game, effectively ending their title hopes. Now five games out of first place with eight games to play, Princeton (9-23 overall, 4-8 Ivy League) will need nothing short of a miracle to catch division leader Columbia (18-14, 9-3).
It was a perfect ending to a perfect Ivy League season. The women’s tennis team completed an undefeated Ivy run this weekend on a historic note, winning its first back-to-back league titles since 1993 and 1994. The No. 32 Tigers (20-5 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) defeated Cornell (11-10, 1-5) 6-1 in Ithaca, N.Y., on Friday, clinching at least a share of their second Ivy League title in as many years. Princeton continued to make history as it swept Columbia (10-13, 1-6) 7-0 at the Lenz Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon, ensuring a perfect Ivy finish and an outright league championship. This is the first time since 2000 that the Tigers have swept the Ivy League and won an outright title. Princeton shared the crown with Harvard last year.
Two hat tricks and a late-game charge were not enough to save the women’s lacrosse team from suffering an 11-9 loss to Harvard (6-6 overall, 2-3 Ivy League) on Saturday afternoon, in a game that exemplified the team’s struggles for much of the year.
With its Ivy League campaign nearly half completed, the baseball team, three games out of first place in the Gehrig Division, faces an uphill struggle for the division title. Still, Princeton (8-20 overall, 3-5 Ivy League) has an excellent opportunity to gain ground in the standings this weekend and make up for its slow start, as it faces division leader Columbia (15-13, 6-2) in a crucial four-game set in New York City.
The men’s lacrosse team will take on Dartmouth this weekend in its fourth Ivy League contest. After a series of tight games that included a staggering 13-4 loss to then-No. 3 Syracuse and a tight 10-8 victory over Rutgers, Saturday’s game will be a crucial test for a team that has found it difficult to maintain the level of dominance with which it began the season.
After a whole season of endless five-setters, the men’s volleyball team has finally found a way to start as well as it finishes. With just two games left in the regular season, the Tigers (12-9 overall, 5-5 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Tait Division) defeated the New Jersey Institute of Technology 30-27, 30-22, 30-24 for their first home sweep all season.
The last time the women’s tennis team finished with a perfect 7-0 Ivy League record was in 2000. In that season, Princeton finished its season with 8-1 victories over Cornell and Columbia. This weekend, the No. 32 Tigers (18-5 overall, 5-0 Ivy League) look to set back the clocks and repeat the feat by winning their final two matches of the season against the same opponents. On the men's side, the Tigers (8-11, 4-1) look to continue their late-season surge that has them in the thick of the Ivy League title race.
If history is any indicator, the softball team should have a successful weekend as it begins Ivy South play this weekend.
