Princeton University
Cornell
Tigers Top Cornell in ECAC Third-Place Match
February 18, 2018 | Men's Tennis
Rebounding from their loss to eventual champion Dartmouth a day earlier, the Princeton men's tennis team defeated Cornell 4-3 to earn third place at the ECAC Championship that wrapped up Sunday at Yale.
"I'm very proud of our team and how we found a way to get a big win today," Princeton coach Billy Pate said. "Cornell is a very talented and deep squad. We knew it would take a great performance and that's what we got today from several guys. After pulling out a dicey doubles point, it was a battle throughout the singles. Kial (Kaiser) was able to get our second point relatively fast and Luke (Gamble) and Davey (Roberts) had to battle back at different stages of their matches to seal the win. We needed to get over the hump winning a close match. We always talk of growth and learning from losses, but I also think we'll learn from this win. We'll get ready for another short week of preparation before hitting the road and playing outdoors at the always competitive Blue Gray in Montgomery, Ala. starting Friday."
Princeton opened with a doubles-point win, taking the last two matches off court, both in tiebreakers. Cornell's David Volfson and Princeton's Kial Kaiser then traded wins atop the singles ladder before the Big Red's Pietro Rimondini and Princeton's Luke Gamble did the same on courts five and four, keeping Princeton ahead 3-2.
Lev Kazakov tied it up for Cornell with a win on court three in the first of two singles matches to go the distance, and Davey Roberts had the clincher for Princeton on court six after dropping the first set, giving up just four games over the final two sets to seal the win.
Princeton will head to Montgomery, Ala., next weekend for the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic. The draw has yet to be announced, but the field includes Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Boise State, Fresno State, Rice and the Tigers.
Doubles
1. Gamble/Rodriguez (Princeton) def. Hansen/Kazakov (Cornell), 7-6(3)
2. Payton Holden/Seggerman (Princeton) def. Ayeni/Evan Bynoe (Cornell), 7-6(2)
3. Joseph McAllister/Volfson (Cornell) def. Kaiser/Vives (Princeton), 6-4
Singles
1. David Volfson (Cornell) def. Ryan Seggerman (Princeton), 6-4, 6-1
2. Kial Kaiser (Princeton) def. Alafia Ayeni (Cornell), 6-2, 6-2
3. Lev Kazakov (Cornell) def. Damian Rodriguez (Princeton), 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
4. Luke Gamble (Princeton) def. Daniel Grunberger (Cornell), 6-4, 7-5
5. Pietro Rimondini (Cornell) def. Diego Vives (Princeton), 6-4, 6-1
6. Davey Roberts (Princeton) def. Jake Hansen (Cornell), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,2,5,4,3,6)
Players Mentioned
