Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Tennis to Host Penn Saturday in Ivy League Opener
March 24, 2011 | Men's Tennis
Video (above): Head coach Glenn Michibata discusses the Tigers as they head into the Ivy League season.
Entering with a 7-6 record and a No. 62 national ranking, the Princeton men's tennis team will host No. 60 Penn (10-1) Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Ivy League opener for both teams.
The match will be indoors on the E level of Jadwin Gym if the temperature is below 50 degrees, which is what weekend forecasts suggest. Otherwise, the teams will play on the Lenz Tennis Center outdoor courts.
Princeton began the dual meet season with a pair of victories over ITA-ranked teams Penn State and Northwestern, and the Tigers themselves have been in the ITA rankings ever since. Four of Princeton's six losses have come by 4-3 finals, while the other two were 5-2.
A season ago, Princeton took the Ivy League race to the final weekend before finishing with a 4-3 Ivy mark.
This season, the Tigers have seen success up and down the lineup and across the classes, with sophomore Matija Pecotic posting an 8-4 record in duals at the No. 1 singles spot, followed by classmate Matt Spindler going 7-5 at No. 2. Sophomore Matt Siow (5-2) at fourth singles, freshman Dan Richardson (5-2) at fifth singles and senior Alex Faust (4-1) at sixth singles also have winning records while playing the most matches at those positions. Pecotic and Siow have a team-best eight wins against just two losses at the top doubles spot, while the Tigers have been able to put together a handful of different combinations at the other two doubles positions.
The Quakers started the season 8-0 with all eight matches coming at home before heading out to California for a pair. It was in the Golden State that Penn suffered its first and only loss on the season so far, a 6-1 decision to Santa Clara, which is ranked No. 47 in this week's poll. Penn has since defeated Pacific and St. John's to arrive on the doorstep of the Ivy League season with just one loss.
Half the Ivy League appears in this week's ITA top-75 rankings, with Cornell at No. 55, Penn at No. 60, Princeton at No. 62 and Dartmouth at No. 74.
The Penn match is one of four home league contests for the Tigers, who will host the Dartmouth-Harvard weekend April 9-10 before hosting Columbia on April 15.