Tennis: Conference play begins vs. Quakers

Princeton competed in the Hilton Mission Valley Spring Classic in San Diego over break, where it opened on Thursday with a 5-2 loss to San Diego State, which has gone 2-10 so far. The University of Denver (3-10) then took a close match the following day, winning 4-3 by taking four singles matches, three of which were decided in three sets. The Tigers finished the trip with a 5-2 loss to The University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Despite these recent losses, the men’s team is performing better than its record indicates. Four of the Tigers’ six losses were by a single point, and they defeated two ranked opponents, including then-No. 71 Penn State and then-No. 60 Northwestern. The current issue for the Tigers is making everyone click and perform well on the same day. Almost every member of the team won at least one match over the break, yet the members’ inability to do so on the same day prevented them from winning a team match.

A player to watch as the Ivy season opens is senior captain Alex Faust. He won two of his singles matches over break in straight sets and was narrowly defeated in a tight match against UAB’s Daniel Moser 6-2, 4-6, 11-9. Look for Faust’s leadership and performance on and off the courts to rally the Tigers to perform at the high level they are capable of during conference play.

The Tigers will face a tough test in the No. 60 Quakers, who are coming off a 4-3 victory over St. John’s. Penn has had a successful non-conference season, with its sole loss coming to then-No. 59 Santa Clara University. The No. 60 national ranking is the highest the Quakers have been ranked since the 2006-07 season, during which they were ranked as high as No. 50 and finished the season as Ivy League co-Champions with Columbia. Penn is also the second-highest ranked Ivy team, behind No. 55 Cornell. The Quakers are led by senior captain Hicham Laalej, who enters this Saturday on a nine-match winning streak.

Princeton respects what Penn has accomplished so far this season, but the Tigers are confident heading into this weekend. According to sophomore Matt Siow, the Quakers will pose a challenge.

“They’re a really tough team,” Siow said. “Right now, they are ranked higher than us, so it’s going to be a tough match. They’re really deep — they have this guy, Hicham Laalej, who didn’t play last year because he was hurt, but now he’s playing number one for them. But our team is really prepared for the Ivy League season. We had a couple of tough losses over spring break but they were all winnable matches. They literally came down to a couple points. The results aside, I think all of us are playing well right now and we are where we need to be to start the Ivy season.”

The No. 55 women’s tennis team (7-7) will also open conference play this weekend when the team heads to Philadelphia to take on Penn (6-8). The women’s team is also coming off a spring break trip to San Diego, during which it defeated University of Hawaii 5-2 before falling to No. 25 University of San Diego 7-0.

Penn’s top player is freshman Connie Hsu, who has lost just two of 38 matches dating back to the fall season. Hsu is the top individual in the Ivy League, No. 20 in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.

Despite their .500 record, the Tigers have the potential to repeat an Ivy League champion title. Princeton had a tough non-conference schedule, as it faced eight ranked opponents, including five in the top 25. The experience against these opponents should prove invaluable as the team faces Ivy League foes.