Tennis: Women’s squad reaches ECAC final

The Princeton women (5-2 overall) got off to a hot start on Friday, defeating Cornell (4-1) 5-2 in the first round of the tournament. The Tigers struck first and won the doubles point with victories by the No. 35 doubles pairing of senior Hilary Bartlett and freshman Lindsay Graff and the No. 49 duo of freshman Katie Goepel and senior Rachel Saiontz. On the singles courts, Graff, sophomore Katherine Flanigan and junior Monica Chow beat their Big Red counterparts in straight sets, while Goepel battled Gabby Sullivan to win 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3.

The women’s team continued its strong doubles play the following day against No. 38 Brown (7-3), as Chow and Flanigan defeated Julie Flanzer and Nikita Uberoi 8-3 to help sweep the doubles point. Singles play was more contested than the day before, with Brown able to win three matches, including Misia Krasowski’s victory over No. 84 Bartlett, 6-4, 6-2. The Tigers and Bears traded singles victories until Flanigan defeated Laura Wiley 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 to clinch a berth in the finals.

The No. 25 Yale Bulldogs (6-1) awaited Princeton in a rematch of last year’s ECAC Championship finals. The Tigers faltered early in the match, being swept in the doubles point and losing the first two singles matches. Princeton showed resolve, however, as Graff defeated Blair Seideman in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, and Goepel beat Anne Sullivan 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Flanigan found herself in a battle with Stephanie Kent, but ultimately Kent was able to earn a victory of 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and clinch the championship for Yale.

The men’s team (3-6) did not open the tournament as strongly as the women, falling to host Dartmouth 4-2. The Big Green (8-1) took the doubles point with victories over the No. 24 pairing of juniors Matt Spindler and Matt Siow and the doubles duo of sophomore Augie Bloom and junior Matija Pecotic. On the singles courts, No. 59 Pecotic beat No. 85 Xander Centenari in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, while senior Ravi Yegya-Raman also won in straight sets, beating Chris Ho 7-5, 6-2. Spindler was also leading No. 95 Cameron Ghorbani 6-4, 5-4 when play was stopped as Dartmouth had already clinched the match.

“The biggest thing is that all of the Ivy League teams are pretty well-balanced,” Yegya-Raman said. “It’s going to be an incredibly close race in March and April for the Ivy League Championship. We’re well on our way to being able to compete with every single one of those teams.”

With a loss in the first round, the Tigers entered the consolation bracket, which provided a matchup with Yale (4-3) on Saturday. Princeton came out hungry in the early going, as Siow and Spindler defeated Daniel Hoffman and Marc Powers 8-3. Pecotic earned another straight-sets victory on the singles courts, beating John Huang 6-4, 6-2. Yegya-Raman and sophomore Dan Richardson also picked up straight-sets victories to clinch the match for Princeton.

The Tigers met St. John’s (6-2) in the consolation finals on Sunday. Singles matches were played first with doubles matches to be played if the teams split the singles matches. Pecotic continued his strong play, defeating No. 27 Vasko Mladenov 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 6-2, while Richardson was also victorious, beating Matty Najfeld in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. St. John’s won the other four matches, however, defeating the Tigers 4-2 to win the consolation finals.

Despite falling in the consolation finals, the weekend proved to be a valuable experience for the Tigers as it allowed them to face Ivy opponents and play in pressure situations before conference play begins in the spring.

“It’s going to come down to being extremely mentally tough, being in the moment and performing under pressure,” Yegya-Raman added. “We became better at those things this weekend. There’s still work to be done on our games, but we’re well on our way to being ready for Ivy League competition.”

The men return to play next Sunday as they host Buffalo and Fairleigh Dickinson in a doubleheader at Jadwin. The women will travel to Montgomery, Ala., to compete in the Blue-Gray Invitational.