Saturday, April 21
Princeton, N.J.
1:00 PM
Princeton University
4
vs
3
Harvard
Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
Princeton Tops Harvard to Win Ivy Title, Fourth in Five Years
April 21, 2018 | Women's Tennis
For the 14th time overall and the fourth time in the last five seasons, the Princeton women's tennis team is the Ivy League champion.
Saturday afternoon's 4-3 win over Harvard meant the Tigers, who host Dartmouth Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Lenz Tennis Center (updates on Twitter at @PrincetonTennis), will have at least a share of the Ivy League title as well as the Ivy's automatic bid to the NCAA team tournament. The NCAA selection show will be Tuesday, May 1 at 5 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Princeton will take the outright Ivy title if it defeats Dartmouth Sunday, or with a loss and a Harvard loss Sunday at Penn. Both the Tigers and Crimson entered Saturday at 5-0 in the league with every other team with at least two losses.
Princeton, winner of three Ivy titles in a row from 2014-16 before coming up a match short last year, was ranked 45th in the nation by the ITA this week in pursuit of a return to the top. Saturday's match, however, started with a loss in the doubles point.
"In the huddle before we went on for singles, we just told each other that we were going to fight as hard as we could and everyone needed to take care of her court, and I think that's what happened," Princeton senior co-captain Katrine Steffensen said. "That's why we won the four points right after doubles."
Sophomore Clare McKee, on court four, squared the match with a 6-1, 6-1 win. Rookie Nathalie Rodilosso put the Tigers in front with a 6-4, 6-2 win on court six.
The first and fifth courts were each closing in on Tiger wins, with sophomore Gaby Pollner on court five and Steffensen on court one. Pollner finished off her 6-3, 7-5 win moments before Steffensen added the clinching fourth point on court one.
"I was looking at the board and it was 6-5 Gaby, but I told myself to focus hard on my court because I know sometimes if you know you're the clinch, it's a little hard," Steffensen said. "Gaby told me after the match that she was trying to win fast so she could let me clinch, which is really sweet of her. It's just trying to take care of your court and being focused only on your court. I think that has helped us a lot."
Doubles
1. Gonzalez/Oosterhout (Harvard) def. Kalhorn/Schrage (Princeton), 6-1
2. Anna Li/Ringblom (Harvard) def. McKee/Steffensen (Princeton), 6-4
3. Sara Goodwin/Rodilosso (Princeton) def. Neha Gupta/Isabel Jasper (Harvard), 6-2
Saturday afternoon's 4-3 win over Harvard meant the Tigers, who host Dartmouth Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Lenz Tennis Center (updates on Twitter at @PrincetonTennis), will have at least a share of the Ivy League title as well as the Ivy's automatic bid to the NCAA team tournament. The NCAA selection show will be Tuesday, May 1 at 5 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Princeton will take the outright Ivy title if it defeats Dartmouth Sunday, or with a loss and a Harvard loss Sunday at Penn. Both the Tigers and Crimson entered Saturday at 5-0 in the league with every other team with at least two losses.
Princeton, winner of three Ivy titles in a row from 2014-16 before coming up a match short last year, was ranked 45th in the nation by the ITA this week in pursuit of a return to the top. Saturday's match, however, started with a loss in the doubles point.
"In the huddle before we went on for singles, we just told each other that we were going to fight as hard as we could and everyone needed to take care of her court, and I think that's what happened," Princeton senior co-captain Katrine Steffensen said. "That's why we won the four points right after doubles."
Sophomore Clare McKee, on court four, squared the match with a 6-1, 6-1 win. Rookie Nathalie Rodilosso put the Tigers in front with a 6-4, 6-2 win on court six.
The first and fifth courts were each closing in on Tiger wins, with sophomore Gaby Pollner on court five and Steffensen on court one. Pollner finished off her 6-3, 7-5 win moments before Steffensen added the clinching fourth point on court one.
"I was looking at the board and it was 6-5 Gaby, but I told myself to focus hard on my court because I know sometimes if you know you're the clinch, it's a little hard," Steffensen said. "Gaby told me after the match that she was trying to win fast so she could let me clinch, which is really sweet of her. It's just trying to take care of your court and being focused only on your court. I think that has helped us a lot."
Doubles
1. Gonzalez/Oosterhout (Harvard) def. Kalhorn/Schrage (Princeton), 6-1
2. Anna Li/Ringblom (Harvard) def. McKee/Steffensen (Princeton), 6-4
3. Sara Goodwin/Rodilosso (Princeton) def. Neha Gupta/Isabel Jasper (Harvard), 6-2
Singles
1. Katrine Steffensen (Princeton) def. #105 Erica Oosterhout (Harvard), 7-5, 6-3
2. Jenna Friedel (Harvard) def. Stephanie Schrage (Princeton), 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
3. Annika Ringblom (Harvard) def. Nicole Kalhorn (Princeton), 7-5, 4-6, (10-7)
4. Clare McKee (Princeton) def. Irene Lu (Harvard), 6-1, 6-1
5. Gaby Pollner (Princeton) def. Natasha Gonzalez (Harvard), 6-3, 7-5
6. Nathalie Rodilosso (Princeton) def. Lexi Milunovich (Harvard), 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (4,6,5,1,2,3)
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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