Princeton Rallies Past Rutgers 5-2

Saturday, January 24

Princeton, N.J.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

Rutgers

January 24, 2026 | Women's Tennis

Perhaps it was the shrieked "C'mon" that emanated from Tsehay Driscoll on Court 6 and echoed throughout the Si Qin Family Indoor Tennis Center. Whatever it was, the Princeton women's tennis team went from struggling and on the way to down and out to surging to victory pretty much on a dime.

Down the doubles point and trailing in five of six singles matches at one point, Princeton turned it around quickly, taking five singles matches to take down Rutgers 5-2 Saturday afternoon. The win completed a weekend sweep for the Tigers, who start their 2026 season 2-0.

It also improved Princeton to 43-2 all-time against Rutgers and extended a winning streak that dates to 1996. For much of the afternoon, that streak was in serious jeopardy.

Rutgers won the doubles as Zuzanna Frankowska and Mai Nguyen defeated Tsehay Driscoll and Pearlie Zhang in an 8-6 tiebreaker. After that, the six singles matches started off in a rocky way for Princeton as well.

And then it changed, starting with Driscoll, who was behind 4-1 in the first set of her match at No. 6 and then didn't lose another game, winning 6-4, 6-0 to get Princeton on the board. Alice Ferlito finished her match at No. 1 with a 6-3, 6-3 win — after trailing three times in the first set — and Zhang also won in straight sets 6-4 6-2 at No. 5.

Rutgers earned its first singles point at No. 2, making it a 3-2 match and leaving Princeton still one win away. Just as was the case Friday against James Madison, Eva Elbaz, Princeton's lone senior, delivered the fourth point with a tough 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) win at No. 3 over Karina Jumazhanova.

Anna Maria Fedotova finished the day by taking her match at No. 4 over Zeynep Ilker. It was in keeping with the theme of the day — Fedotova dropped her first set 6-1 before rallying 6-4. 6-4.

Princeton will be home next weekend again, taking on Fordham Saturday and St. John's Sunday.

Princeton (2-0) 5 vs. Rutgers (0-1) 2
Singles
No. 1 Alice Ferlito (P) def. Mai Nguyen 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 Zuzanna Frankowska (R) def. Isabella Chhiv 6-1, 7-5
No. 3 Eva Elbaz (P) def. Karina Jumazhanova 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)
No. 4 Anna Maria Fedotova (P) vs. Zeynep Ilker 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 Pearlie Zhang (P) def. Stella Schmitz 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 Tsehay Driscoll (P) def. Savannah Cohen 6-4, 6-0
Order of finish 6, 1, 5, 2, 3, 4

Doubles
No. 1 Zuzanna Frankowska/Mai Nguyen (R) def. Tsehay Driscoll/Pearlie Zhang 7-6 (8-6)
No. 2 Karina Jumazhanova/Naomi Karki (R) def. AnnaMaria Fedotova/Madeleine Jessup 6-2
No. 3 Eva Elbaz/Isabella Chhiv (P) def. Xintong Zhou/Zeynep Ilker 6-2
Order of finish 3,2,1