Princeton Readies For First Race Ever At Virginia In Top-10 Matchup

The Princeton women have enjoyed an extended amount of time on Lake Carnegie this season, but they also know their postseason goals can't be achieved on their home course. The 10^th-ranked Tigers will get their first taste of road competition this weekend when they head to Charlottesville to take on the ninth-ranked Virginia Cavaliers.

Princeton (9-1, 7-0 Ivy) took care of business against its Ivy League rivals at the 1V level so far this season, including a 3.6-second victory over Yale last Saturday in the Eisenberg Cup regatta. Despite the win, the Tigers dropped six spots in the latest USRowing/CRCA Coaches Poll, partially because Yale (which moved up to #5) won the other four races during the day.

"It is never fun to lose a race but I really do think you learn more from a loss than a win," senior Melissa Curtis said. "After last weekend, the entire team strived to stay positive and refocus on what we can do now to win in the future. Maintaining positive attitudes and channeling our energy on improvement helps us all stay confident and excited for the next race."

While current rankings don't matter, developing speed in tough conditions certainly does, and the Tigers will try to do that Saturday at 9 am when they race on the Rivanna Reservoir.

"It is extremely valuable," Curtis said about competing on the road. "We are really excited to race UVA, they are great competitors and it is a special opportunity to race them during our regular season. I hope that we can have consistently successful performances in all boats. That would be the best possible outcome."

This will be the 13^th regular-season meeting between the two programs, but the first to be held at Virginia. Princeton leads the all-time series 8-4, but Virginia won the last two meetings in both 2014 and 2015. The two programs finished right next to each other at the 2017 NCAA Championships (Princeton was 10^th, Virginia was 11^th), and they have been national contenders for the better part of the last two decades at the NCAA Championships.

While the Princeton 1V lost its first race of the season last week to #7 Iowa, the Tiger 2V dropped races to both Iowa and Yale. That boat will get a good test against a Virginia 2V that earned Atlantic Coast Conference Crew of the Week honors following a win at the Clemson Invitational. Princeton will race five boats during the regatta, and then will return home to prepare for Senior Day and the regular season finale the following Saturday against both #12 Wisconsin and Syracuse.

RACE SCHEDULE
9:00 am - V8
9:20 am - V4A
9:40 am - 2V8
10 am - 2V4
10:20 am - 3V8

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