Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Northwestern
Tigers Advance! Princeton Defeats Northwestern to Open NCAA Tournament
May 03, 2019 | Women's Tennis
Five years after its first win in the NCAAs, No. 34 Princeton beat No. 27 Northwestern 4-1 at the Washington regional Friday afternoon.
Princeton will meet host No. 10 Washington in a 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET second-round match. The Huskies were 4-0 winners over Patriot League champ Army West Point in Friday's second match.
"It wasn't anything crazy, anything magical, it was just us coming together as a team, like we have been doing all season," Nicole Kalhorn, Princeton's lone senior in the match, said. "It was one of those things where we felt like as a team, it was something, yeah, we've earned, and so to be here feels pretty good."
The win is Princeton's 10th in a row, giving the Tigers their longest winning streak since an 11-match run in 2014, and it's Princeton's 19th win of the year, tying this season for the second-most wins in program history alongside 2018 and 2014, one behind the program-record 20 wins in 2010.
Princeton took the doubles point to open play, with Stephanie Schrage and Nathalie Rodilosso winning on court three before Kalhorn and Brianna Shvets closed out their match on court one.
Kalhorn took the first singles match to finish, winning on court five, before Northwestern got a win on court one. Princeton then moved within a point of clinching when Grace Joyce won her match on court three, and Clare McKee closed it out with a win on court four. Every match decision came in straight sets.
The NCAA tournament appearance is Princeton's 10th, fifth in the last six years and seventh in the last 11. Princeton won an NCAA tournament match for the first time in 2014, defeating Arizona State 4-3 at Alabama. Princeton completed its second consecutive 7-0 run through the Ivy League this spring, a program first, and Kalhorn said the Ivy titles and the first NCAA win for any of the current Tigers each stand on their own as outstanding accomplishments.
"Ivy titles are so special in that it feels like it's a direct comparison to other teams, and so to win this first round, it's definitely up there," Kalhorn said. "I think we're just trying to keep our heads down and (the NCAA tournament is) still its own season in and of itself, and so it doesn't necessarily feel like it's an end, where an Ivy season sort of feels like a closure."
Thanks to the win, the run will continue for another day, at least.
#34 Princeton 4, #27 Northwestern 1
Doubles
1. Kalhorn/Shvets (Princeton) def. Byrne/McColgan (Northwestern), 6-4
2. Doshi/Or (Northwestern) vs. Joyce/McKee (Princeton), 5-5, unfinished
3. Rodilosso/Schrage (Princeton) def. Pozo/Vanessa Streng (Northwestern), 6-1
Singles
1. Julie Byrne (Northwestern) def. Stephanie Schrage (Princeton), 6-3, 6-3
2. Lee Or (Northwestern) vs. Brianna Shvets (Princeton), 3-6, 6-3, 5-3, unfinished
3. Grace Joyce (Princeton) def. Caroline Pozo (Northwestern), 6-4, 6-3
4. Clare McKee (Princeton) def. Rheeya Doshi (Northwestern), 6-4, 6-4
5. Nicole Kalhorn (Princeton) def. Hannah McColgan (Northwestern), 6-3, 6-2
6. Inci Ogut (Northwestern) vs. Nathalie Rodilosso (Princeton), 4-6, 6-4, 2-2, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (5,1,3,4)
Players Mentioned
