The No. 52 women’s tennis team (11–6 overall, 2–1 Ivy League) took their first Ivy League win on Saturday with a close 4–3 victory against the No. 44 Columbia Lions (14–4, 2–1).
Although Princeton has been struggling to win doubles matches in recent contests, first-year Alice Ferlito and senior Neha Velaga quickly defeated Rachel Rimondini and Winta Tewolde 6–3.
However, the other two doubles matches were much more competitive. While sophomore Eva Elbaz and junior Leena Bennetto were battling in a tiebreak, first-year Madeleine Jessup and senior Maia Sung won two clutch games in a row to defeat Sophia Strugnell and Gayathri Krishnan 7–5, giving Princeton a 1–0 lead.
“It’s been hard for us to win that doubles point,” Elbaz told The Daily Princetonian. “At the end of the day, the doubles point is very, very important, especially in Ivy [League] matches [because] they always go to 3–3. I’m really happy we won that one because we spent a lot of time this week practicing doubles.”
At the #6 singles spot, Elbaz and Columbia’s Sophia Wang were dead even, tied at 1–1, 3–3, 4–4, 5–5, and 6–6. Elbaz’s athleticism shined in this match, as she was able to return everything Wang hit at her. However, Wang used her left-handedness to her advantage. She frequently pinned Elbaz in cross-court rallies, hitting powerful forehands to Elbaz’s backhand.
Ultimately, Wang won the tiebreaker, and her momentum continued into the second set. Although Elbaz won the first game, Wang won the next four in a row to take a 4–1 lead, and was able to close out the match, 7–6, 6–2, tying the overall score at 1–1.
Ferlito faced a similar situation at the #4 singles spot against Krishnan, also a lefty. Ferlito’s consistent shots wore down Krishnan, and her forehand swinging volley and strong winners saw Ferlito easily take the first set, 6–0.
However, just like Elbaz, Ferlito’s opponent made adjustments in the second set, making more serves and whipping left-handed forehands at Ferlito’s backhand. Krishnan lost the first game of the second set, but won the next twelve in a row to win the match 3–6, 6–1, 6–0. Krishnan’s win over Ferlito also gave Columbia the lead at 2–1.
“It’s definitely hard [to play a lefty], and an adjustment,” Elbaz noted. “Unfortunately, on our team we don’t have any lefties, so we don’t practice against any lefty players. It’s a little annoying, and I don’t personally like playing [against them]. I don’t think anybody likes [it].”
At the #2 singles spot, Bennetto went down in games 1–2 to Columbia’s Fatima Keita. Although Keita hit powerful serves and groundstrokes, Bennetto relentlessly pursued each shot and returned them even harder, taking the next five games in a row to win the set 6–2.
But just like the two other matches, Keita’s adjustments saw her pull away from Bennetto in the second set. Bennetto won the first two games, but Keita won six of the next seven to take the second set, 6–3. But in the third set, Bennetto regained her momentum, hitting winner after winner to close out the match 6–2, 3–6, 6–2, and tying the overall score at two apiece.
At the #1 singles spot, Velaga jumped out to an early 4–1 lead over Anna Zhang in the first set. Through a combination of powerful serves, fast groundstrokes, and winners, Velaga closed out the first set 6–2. In the second set, Velaga again took an early lead, winning the first three games. However, Zhang found her serving rhythm and Velaga lost her momentum, bringing the score to 4–4, 5–5, and eventually 6–6, where Velaga lost the tiebreaker and the second set 7–6.
But despite going down 2–0 early in the third set, Velaga furiously hit groundstroke after groundstroke, coming back to win the match 6–2, 6–7, 6–4, and giving the Tigers a 3–2 lead with two matches remaining.
“I think Columbia did a great job of making adjustments. Not just in one or two [singles], but in all the matches,” Princeton head coach Jamea Jackson stated. “It got to the point where we had to adjust to the adjustments they made.”
#5 singles player Madeleine Jessup faced an unfortunate situation in her match against Tewolde. Jessup played well in the first set, as her heavy topspin groundstrokes allowed her to be extremely consistent. However, she lost the first set in a close battle to Tewolde, 6–4.
In the second set, she hit a few winners off swinging volleys, and flipped the set, winning 6–4. Unfortunately, however, she began to cramp in the third set and had to withdraw.
“At first it was just her leg,” Elbaz added. “Then she started to play more and her whole body started to cramp. The trainer told her to pull out, so we lost that point.”
It is worth noting that Columbia has 14 players on their roster, and only four of their six singles players also played doubles. In contrast, Princeton only has nine players on their roster, and all six of their singles players also played doubles.
Tied at 3–3, the entire match came down to #3 singles player Maia Sung against Julia Haynes. Haynes had a unique play style, frequently lobbing and engaging in long, passive rallies. Although Sung sometimes lobbed back, she attacked shallow lobs out of the air with ruthless forehand and backhand swinging volleys. After an extremely long first set, Sung came out victorious in the tiebreak.
By the time Sung led 2–1 in the second set, all other matches had already concluded. Sung knew that it would be tough to beat Haynes at her lobbing game, so she became even more aggressive — attacking even deep baseline lobs with forehand and backhand swinging volleys, and then finishing off the point at the net.
Leading 5–4 in the second set, on match point, Sung called a ball out to win the match. However, Haynes and the other Columbia players objected to the call, believing the ball to be in. The far-side line umpire deferred the call to the near-side line umpire, who confirmed Sung’s out call, notching the winning point for the Tigers.
“You’ve got so many points, you lose so many points. And so you’ve got to be able to bounce back, Jackson explained. “That’s what tennis is all about… and that’s exactly what [Maia] does so well. It says a lot about her determination, and her toughness, and her inner strength, and her resilience.”
The team will face Brown (10–9, 1–2) this Saturday on the road as they hope to continue their strong form. Their good doubles form will give them a platform to build off of and win out in close singles contests.
Riley Bonner is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please direct any corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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