Courtesy: Princeton Athletic CommunicationsThe Princeton men's tennis team defeated No. 40 Michigan State 4-3 Saturday afternoon in East Lansing, Mich., to conclude its three-match, season-opening trip to Michigan with a 2-1 record.
"I couldn't be more proud of our team effort today in getting a very good win against a strong Michigan state team," Princeton head coach Billy Pate said. "(Michigan State has) already registered two wins over SEC teams this year so we knew it would be a challenge. Most notably, it was a tough turnaround from last night's loss to (No. 20) Michigan. The surfaces are very different and our guys had to adjust to faster conditions today."
Princeton won the doubles point when Augie Bloom and Matt Siow beat Denis Bogatov and John Patrick Mullane at third doubles, following up another 8-7 at first doubles for 11th-ranked Zack McCourt and Matija Pecotic over Drew Lied and Aaron Pfister.
Michigan State won the first two singles matches to be decided, but Matija Pecotic and Augie Bloom helped Princeton retake the lead, 3-2, with wins at first and fourth singles, respectively. Drew Lied tied it up for Michigan State with a 6-4, 6-4 win at second singles over McCourt, but freshman Jonathan Carcione provided the clincher, winning a second-set tiebreak to beat Will Davis 6-2, 7-6. Carcione led 4-2 in the second set before Davis took the next three games. Carcione took the final two games to clinch the win.
"It wasn't the best of quality in some matches and we really had to grind out the doubles point," Pate said. "I'm also proud of Carcione for going 3-0 this weekend and getting the clinching point today. He's been an impressive competitor for a freshman. Augie also came through with a big win that was the key to swinging the momentum in our favor."
Princeton will have next weekend away from competition before taking part in the ECAC Championship the folowing weekend.
Princeton (2-1) 4, (40) Michigan State (4-3) 3
Doubles
1. (11) McCourt/Pecotic (P) def. Lied/Pfister (M), 8-7
2. Harry Jadun/Linders (M) def. Dan Davies/Spindler (P), 8-3
3. Bloom/Matt Siow (P) def. Bogatov/Mullane (M), 8-7
Order of finish: 2,1,3
Singles
1. (2) Matija Pecotic (P) def. Aaron Pfister (M), 7-6, 6-3
2. Drew Lied (M) def. Zack McCourt (P), 6-4, 6-4
3. Gijs Linders (M) def. Matt Spindler (P), 6-2, 6-3
4. Augie Bloom (P) def. John Patrick Mullane (M), 3-6, 6-0, 7-5
5. Denis Bogatov (M) def. Dan Richardson (P), 6-4, 7-5
6. Jonathan Carcione (P) def. Will Davis (M), 6-2, 7-6
Order of finish: 3,5,1,4,2,6
