In David Benjamin's last season as the head coach of men's tennis, his team is looking to make him proud.
The Tigers (6-2 overall) are hoping to cap off Benjamin's 26-year coaching career by winning the Ivy League title and advancing to the NCAA tournament.
The team is in good shape. Its leading three players — junior Kyle Kliegerman, senior and co-captain Ahn Ahn Liu and sophomore Judson Williams — all resume their one, two and three positions from last year.
"Our top three players are definitely the core of the team," sophomore Nick Benjamin said. "All those guys have been winning all their matches thus far."
Still, Princeton is a deep team.
"We have three or four players right behind them that are good too," David Benjamin said.
In addition, the Tigers boast a strong doubles lineup.
"As far as doubles go, our two captains — Ahn Ahn Liu and Scott Borenstein — are a really good doubles team and have been playing well together," freshman Trevor Smith said.
But, while Princeton is packed with talent, it is going to have tough competition in Harvard and Columbia as they vie for the Ivy League title. In fact, the Tigers lost to Columbia in the ECAC Championships back in October.
Perhaps even more bothersome to Princeton is the fact that both matches will be played away — which will be especially problematic for the match against Columbia. Columbia is the only Ivy League team to play on clay, a surface that gives it an inherent advantage over all other Ivy competitors who play on hard courts.
Facing tough competition, however, is not new for the team. In mid-February, the Tigers played a strong No. 16 Fresno State squad. Though the team lost to the Bulldogs, 6-1, the match was pivotal.
"As the match progressed, we figured out that we were just as good as them," senior Scott Borenstein said. "The match served as a realization for us about how good we are."
Surf and Sun
This experience in playing tough competitors will come in handy as the team travels to California this spring break to take on No. 3 Duke, No. 6 Pepperdine, Claremont Mudd-Scripps, UC-Santa Barbara and UC-Irvine.
While the Tigers are looking to gain a few wins and improve their national tennis rankings over break, their more important goal is to re-acclimate themselves to outdoor competition. Having played indoors since October and facing an outdoor spring season, playing outside in California offers both a breath of fresh air and necessary practice time.
California might also serve as a turning point for the team, as Princeton jumps into Ivy League competition just two weeks after break. The trip, therefore, could provide the needed momentum to win the title.
But whether the Tigers win the title or not, David Benjamin seems confident that it is time to call it quits.
"It's been a long goodbye," Benjamin said — referring to the fact that he decided to stop coaching over a year ago. "At this stage, I'm just trying to enjoy the last part of my coaching career."
Though Benjamin would prefer business as usual in his final season, most members of the team agree that there is added incentive to do well.
"We want to send our coach out on a positive note," sophomore Michael Drummond said.
Nick Benjamin, David Benjamin's son, agrees.
"We haven't won the Ivy League title for a while," Nick Benjamin said. "It just makes it that much more significant to us to win."
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