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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Women's Tennis to Meet Florida International Friday Morning in NCAA First Round
May 07, 2009 | Women's Tennis
PRINCETON -- First serve is fast approaching for the Princeton women's tennis team in the NCAA tournament.
The Tigers will face Florida International on the home courts of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., Friday at 10 a.m. in what is Princeton's first NCAA appearance since 2000 and third all-time.
Princeton went one-and-done in both NCAA appearances, but those were in 1983 and 2000, and the Ivy League has seen success in NCAA matches since then. Penn was the last team to win an NCAA match, in 2006, and Harvard has advanced to the Round of 16 in this decade.
Princeton's lineup boasts two of three doubles teams and five of six singles players that were honored by the Ivy League, including Ivy Rookie of the Year Lauren McHale and fellow first-teamer freshman Hilary Bartlett. Melissa Saiontz and Rachel Saiontz, junior and freshman sisters who will be playing near their Florida hometown this weekend, fill out the third and fourth spots on Princeton's lineup while Taylor Marable and Blakely Ashley, both sophomores, are fifth and sixth.
The winner of the first-round Princeton-Florida International match will face Miami or Army at 2 p.m. Saturday in the second round.
Princeton and FIU have faced one another just once before, on Jan. 28, 2007 on FIU's home courts. The Golden Panthers won 4-3, but only two Tigers who played singles that day are in Princeton's regular lineup two years later. Melissa Saiontz (then at first singles) and Blakely Ashley (then at fifth) each won their matches, and none of the three Princeton doubles pairings are still among the team's usual this season.
Among FIU players, only the Golden Panthers' fifth and sixth singles players from that day, Maria Pazo and Priscilla Castillo, remain. The two now play fourth and fifth singles for FIU.
In the latest ITA rankings, which came out April 27, FIU was ranked No. 29 and Princeton No. 42. The Tigers have gone 4-7 against ranked teams this season, getting wins over teams then ranked at Nos. 31, 36, 50 and 61 (of 75 ranked).
Among individuals, FIU counts No. 79 Liset Brito and No. 98 Mariana Muci, its first and third singles players, among the 125 ranked. Princeton's McHale had been ranked for much of the season but dropped out of the latest ranking.
In doubles, Princeton has Marable and Bartlett, who will be headed to the NCAA doubles tournament later this month, ranked at No. 50 while FIU has Castillo and Brito, who played together in the early part of the spring season, at No. 67.
FIU is 5-5 this season against ranked teams including winning each of the last three. The Golden Panthers' highest-ranked win was over No. 33 South Carolina in March, and Princeton and FIU have only two opponents in common this season. Both teams defeated Harvard and Middle Tennessee State.
Live stats for the match will be available here.