Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Tennis Set to Open Dual-Match Season with Big Ten Trio
January 25, 2016 | Men's Tennis
The first week of the dual-match season for the Princeton men's tennis team will be split between Madison, Wis., and Queens, New York as the Tigers take on a trio of Big Ten teams to get things started.
Princeton will open the season Wednesday at Wisconsin with a 7 p.m. ET match before returning East to face Michigan and Iowa an Ivy-Big Ten Challenge that also includes Cornell. The Tigers will face the Wolverines Friday at 5 p.m. and Iowa Saturday at 3:30 p.m., both at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
The Tigers are ranked 34th in the nation by the ITA, and junior Alex Day is the 93rd-ranked singles player nationally.
"We're excited to begin the spring season this week and having three Big Ten teams to start the year presents a great challenge," Princeton head coach Billy Pate said. "We've had some good practices this week and we're looking forward to our opener at Wisconsin on Wednesday night. It will be a tough test and after this week it will be a great barometer for where we are. We're also looking forward to playing at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. against Michigan and Iowa and giving our NYC alums and supporters a chance to see our team in a great atmosphere."
Princeton has faced all three teams before, but only one recently. The Tigers had the last of their three meetings with Wisconsin in 1995, their only match against Iowa in 1990, and their most recent match against Michigan in 2013. From that match, a 5-2 win by the 20th-ranked Wolverines, only Jonathan Carcione, who won at sixth singles, remains for Princeton, and none of the Michigan players from that contest are still with the team.
Princeton has faced seven Big Ten teams in the first three seasons of Billy Pate's tenure, getting wins against Michigan State in 2013 and Indiana last season in San Diego. The Tigers also took on Penn State during the regular season last year and Minnesota in Virginia in the team's first NCAA tournament appearance since 1998.
From that NCAA tournament lineup, Princeton returns five of six from doubles and four of six from singles, led by junior Tom Colautti, who played second singles and teamed with Zack McCourt atop the doubles ladder. Alex Day, Luke Gamble, Kial Kaiser, Diego Vives and Josh Yablon also return from that match against Minnesota.
All three of Princeton's opponents this weekend have already started their dual-match seasons. Wisconsin defeated Northern Illinois 5-2 last Friday, while Michigan fell 4-3 Sunday to No. 55 Kentucky and No. 64 Iowa swept Utah State 7-0 on Jan. 18. The Princeton match is next on the docket for all three teams.
 Princeton |
 Wisconsin |
 Michigan |
 Iowa |
|
| Match Details | Three matches, Wednesday-Saturday | Wednesday, 7 p.m. ET, Madison, Wisc. | Friday, 5 p.m., New York, N.Y. (BJKNTC) | Saturday, 3:30 p.m., New York, N.Y. (BJKNTC) |
| Record | 0-0, 0-0 Ivy | 1-0, 0-0 Big Ten | 0-1, 0-0 Big Ten | 1-0, 0-0 Big Ten |
| ITA Team Ranking (Jan. 27) |
34 | NR | NR | 64 |
| ITA Individual Rankings | (93) Alex Day | None | None | None |
| Notes | Has faced seven Big Ten teams in first three seasons under Billy Pate | 2-1 vs. Princeton, last meeting 1995 | 1-1 vs. Princeton, last meeting 2013 (Michigan win) | 1-0 vs. Princeton, only meeting 1990 |