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Virginia Tech Slips Past Women's Tennis to Start ITA Kick-Off Weekend
January 25, 2015 | Women's Tennis
The opening match of the spring dual season came Saturday for the Princeton women's tennis team, but Virginia Tech spoiled the Tigers' opener by hanging on for a 4-3 win.
The match came on the first of two days for Princeton, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and host Alabama at one of 16 sites in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. No. 7 Alabama, which beat No. 57 Syracuse 4-0 to open the weekend earlier Saturday, will host Virginia Tech in Sunday's final while 35th-ranked Princeton will face Syracuse at 11 a.m. Sunday in the event's consolation match. Live scoring can be found here.
After falling behind 2-0 following the doubles point and a loss at third singles, Princeton gained its first point on a straight-set win from Amanda Muliawan at second and pulled even with a win on court one from Lindsay Graff.
Virginia Tech regained the lead with a three-set win at fifth singles, but Princeton forced the match between Dorothy Tang and the Hokies' Caroline Daxhelet to be the decisive one after Katrine Steffensen won in straight sets at sixth singles.
Tang and Daxhelet traded 6-1 scores over the first two sets, Tang winning first, but Daxhelet was able to carry the momentum into a 6-3 third-set win to take the match.
| 3 |  |
(35) Princeton (0-1) vs. (56) Virginia Tech (3-0) Jan. 24, 2015 • Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
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4 |
Doubles
| 1 | Graff/Steffensen (P) | |
(36) Fusinato/Mita (VT) | 6-4 |
| 2 | Muliawan/Tang (P) | DNF | Daxhelet/Williford (VT) | 5-4 P |
| 3 | Emily Hahn/Wolff (P) | |
Cerezo-Codina/Sansitha Nandakumar (VT) | 6-4 |
Singles
| 1 | Lindsay Graff (P) | |
Ilinca Stoica (VT) | 6-3, 6-4 |
| 2 | Amanda Muliawan (P) | |
Francesca Fusinato (VT) | 6-3, 6-1 |
| 3 | Alanna Wolff (P) | |
Elena Cerezo-Codina (VT) | 6-1, 6-2 |
| 4 | Dorothy Tang (P) | |
Caroline Daxhelet (VT) | 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 |
| 5 | Caroline Joyce (P) | |
Kelly Williford (VT) | 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 |
| 6 | Katrine Steffensen (P) | |
Raluca Mita (VT) | 7-6, 6-3 |
| Match notes: This was the first meeting between Princeton and Virginia Tech since 2003 and the third overall as well as Princeton's first loss to the Hokies ... This is Princeton's fourth time participating in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, competing in the initial event in 2009 as well as in 2010 and 2011 ... Freshman Katrine Steffensen was playing in her first collegiate dual match ... Princeton began its 2015 dual-match season in the same venue where it ended its 2014 season, where it lost to No. 2 Alabama after taking the Crimson Tide to third sets in the last two matches on court in the second round of the NCAA tournament. |
| Order of finish: Doubles: 1,3; Singles: 3,2,1,5,6,4 |
| Next match: Princeton will face No. 57 Syracuse Sunday at 11 a.m. ET in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend consolation match. |
ITA rankings in parentheses