Women's tennis stays perfect in Ivies; men fall to Harvard, 4-3

In a quest for a league title that is decided over only seven contests, every match is critical. This weekend was no exception, resulting in important consequences for both the men's and women's tennis teams. While both began this weekend's competition with perfect Ivy League records, only one — the women's team — emerged with that record still flawless.

But even after trouncing Harvard, its toughest rival, by a 6-1 margin, the women's team (14-2 overall, 5-0 Ivy League) doesn't intend to let up. The pressure is piling on for the men, however, who have to beat Columbia this weekend to have even a share of the title after a tough 4-3 loss to Harvard in Cambridge, Mass.

The women's team anticipated a tough match after it had narrowly squeezed past the Crimson in the ECAC fall championships — Princeton's first win over Harvard (9-10, 3-1) in six years. The Tigers were ready for a showdown Friday. What the team hardly expected was to clinch the match before the doubles competition even began. The team's intensity and determination prevailed, with five of the women winning their singles matches — four of them going the full three sets.

"We really came together as a team," head coach Louise Gengler said. "We had a lot of heroes."

Wonder woman

Freshman Kavitha Krishnamurthy topped that list of heroes at the Lenz Center, being the only team member to go undefeated all weekend in both singles and doubles play. After dropping the first set in her No. 1 singles match against Harvard, Krishnamurthy came back to win 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-1. She teamed up with sophomore Pryia Bhupathi to help get Princeton started in obtaining the doubles point.

Seniors Jyotsna Vasisht and Amanda Hastings-Phillips and junior Gailor Large were also heroes, going undefeated in singles play through the weekend.

Sophomore Kristi Watson continued battling through her No. 6 singles match even after Krishnamurthy, Vasisht, Hastings-Phillips and Large had already decided the team victory. Watson, who played through her match without knowing this overall outcome, recorded a 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-3 win, which was the icing on the singles players' cake.

"We couldn't believe we won it in the singles," Watson said. "After I won the third set, [the team] all ran onto the court, jumping. It was really exciting."

The Tigers continued to focus on the task at hand even after the win was guaranteed, with Watson and Vasisht completing the quest Krishnamurthy and Bhupathi had begun for the doubles point. Watson and Vasisht defeated the Harvard duo at No. 2 doubles, 9-7, after being down two match points.

"We figured we might as well hit out and see what happened," Watson said. "There was no pressure, and things just happened to go our way."

Things continued to go their way the next day against visiting Dartmouth, when the Tigers coasted to a 5-2 win. The singles pulled through again with Krishnamurthy, Hastings-Phillips, Vasisht, Large and Bhupathi combining to give the team five points.

"Right now we're competitively sharp and we can't let up," Gengler said. "We've been rising to all the big occasions. Hopefully we can do it two more times."

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The men's team (15-6, 4-1) had a rocky weekend, enduring the tight loss to Harvard (12-10, 3-1) before rebounding with a 5-1 win over Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H.

After losing the doubles point to the Crimson, the Tigers were only able to win three of their singles matches, falling just short of victory.

"You go in with such a different mentality if you don't win the doubles point," sophomore Judson Williams, who was the only Tiger to win four matches over the weekend, said. "You know you have to win four of the singles matches, and against a team as tough as Harvard, that's hard to do."

Princeton beat Dartmouth the next day despite a barrage of injuries that forced the team to concede the No. 5 and 6 singles matches. The team swept the other four singles spots and the doubles contests.