Entering this weekend, the women?s tennis team was sitting pretty. Princeton was coming off a big win over perennial power Harvard and was in prime position to take home the Ivy League title. Facing the bottom-feeders of the league in Cornell and Columbia, the Tigers seemed poised to take their first Ivy League title since 1994. Would overconfidence spoil the celebration? Would either the Big Red or the Lions be able to stop Princeton?s dream season?
No. Not even close. Behind solid performances all around, the Tigers dominated this weekend, winning both matches by 8-1 scores. With the wins, Princeton (17-2 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) not only clinched the Ivy title and an automatic birth to the NCAA tournament, but completed its first perfect Ivy League season since 1980.
?It was amazing,? freshman Samantha Gingold said. ?You could feel the vibes on the court. We didn?t want to be too confident. We went into every match with the attitude that we respected every team.?
In the final regular-season match for seniors Amanda Hastings-Phillips and Jyotsna Vasisht, the two Tigers dominated as they have over the last four years. No. 2 Hastings-Phillips continued her winning ways, dropping a total of only six games in singles matches this weekend before teaming with Gingold for a doubles victory at Columbia.
?I definitely felt a little pressure to win Amanda?s last match,? Gingold said. ?She didn?t want to come off the court.?
No. 3 Vasisht won four matches this weekend, fighting off Jodie Hurley of the Big Red (8-11, 1-6) in a tough three-set win Friday in Ithaca, N.Y. Vasisht also teamed with sophomore Kristi Watson to take two wins at No. 1 doubles.
?Personally I don?t think I deserved to win, but somehow I pulled it out,? Vasisht said. ?I was having a bad day.?
Although Vasisht struggled in her victory Friday, she wasn?t going to let that get her down heading into Saturday?s finale. She put things together in her final home match at the Lenz Center, only dropping three games in her singles match before winning with Watson at No. 1 doubles.
?Before the match, [Amanda and I] started crying because it was our last home match,? Vasisht said. ?But afterwards, I was excited, not sad. It?s an unbelievable feeling to go out and play your last match and win an Ivy title.?
Freshman phenom and No. 1 Kavitha Krishnamurthy was once again dominant. She was able to regroup after dropping the first set against Cornell?s Suzanne Wright, defeating Wright and then downing Laira Shetty of Columbia (15-8, 3-4) in straight sets the next day. Against Wright, Krishnamurthy won just one game in the first set before dominating the rest of the match, winning the final two sets without surrendering a game. Krishnamurthy teamed with sophomore Priya Bhupathi in doubles to complete a four-win weekend.
Bhupathi also played well in the singles draw, rebounding from a loss last weekend against Harvard to win both her singles matches this weekend.
The final chapter
For Vasisht and Hastings-Phillips, Saturday?s victory was the climax of four years of college tennis. The two are the only seniors on the team, which has improved steadily with each year.
?We just have the right mix of experience and tenacity,? Vasisht said. ?We always knew we had the potential to be Ivy Champs, but it feels even better since we?ve had the chance to lead the way.?
Overall, the weekend, like the entire season, was a total team effort. The Tigers only lost two matches over the weekend. Over the Ivy season, Princeton only lost 15 of the 62 matches played.
?All year long we?ve been working so hard,? Vasisht said. ?I think it finally just came together.?
However, the season is not over yet for these two seniors and the rest of the women?s tennis team. Their Ivy title brings with it one more challenge - the NCAA tournament.
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