Tigers Battle Harvard to the Finish as Spring Trip Closes

Sunday, March 24

San Diego, Calif. (San Diego State)

9:30 AM PT/12:30 PM ET

Princeton University

Harvard

Princeton University men's tennis, Ivy Plus Tournament, Princeton, NJ, September 21, 2018.

Karl Poling won in both doubles and singles against Harvard Sunday.

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

Tigers Battle Harvard to the Finish as Spring Trip Closes

March 24, 2019 | Men's Tennis

In the second of three meetings this year, Harvard edged out the Princeton men's tennis team 4-3 Sunday at San Diego State as Princeton's spring trip came to a close.

The match hinged on two three-set matches, both of which Princeton needed before one went Harvard's way.

"Despite a heartbreaking loss, we fought incredibly hard," Princeton coach Billy Pate said. "It was a fantastic college tennis match by both teams. We always seem to have these types of matches with Harvard, which makes sense because it's a great rivalry. However, it's tough to come up just short. We had a match point for the win and Damian (Rodriguez) played a good point. He stayed aggressive throughout his match and had several break points in the third set. Credit to his opponent who saved them all and played tough on key points. Nonetheless, I'm proud of Damian and our entire team. We'll get back to work this week and prepare for what promises to be a great Ivy League race."

Princeton opened by taking the doubles point on wins from Payton Holden and Ryan Seggerman on court one and Karl Poling and Rodriguez on court two. Harvard, though, took the first three singles matches off court before Karl Poling on court two and Davey Roberts on court three won to tie the match back up at 3-3. That left the match to Rodriguez, who battled Brian Shi to a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 finish.

Princeton will open the Ivy League season next, hosting Penn Saturday at 1 p.m.

#38 Harvard 4, #50 Princeton 3

Doubles
1. Payton Holden/Seggerman (Princeton) def. #33 Logan Weber/Zhou (Harvard), 6-4
2. Poling/Rodriguez (Princeton) def. Shi/Wrzesinski (Harvard), 6-4
3. Sun/Walker (Harvard) def. Barki/Duo (Princeton), 6-3

Singles
1. Robert Wrzesinski (Harvard) def. Ryan Seggerman (Princeton), 7-5, 6-4
2. Karl Poling (Princeton) def. Andy Zhou (Harvard), 6-4, 6-3
3. Brian Shi (Harvard) def. Damian Rodriguez (Princeton), 3-6, 7-5, 7-6
4. Harris Walker (Harvard) def. Bill Duo (Princeton), 6-2, 6-3
5. Davey Roberts (Princeton) def. Steven Sun (Harvard), 1-6, 7-6, 7-6
6. Lane Leschly (Harvard) def. Justin Barki (Princeton), 6-1, 6-2