The men's tennis team proved they could pull off a tough road victory down the stretch on Saturday. After dropping the double matches, the Blue Devils won four out of the six singles matches to pick up the win over the Princteon Tigers, 4-3.
Head coach Jay Lapidus was impressed with the way his team responded to the pressure the Tigers put on Duke.
"[Princeton] was really fired up to play," Lapidus said. "Our team really came through in singles after losing the doubles matches."
The ninth ranked Blue Devils improved 5-2 on the season.
The Blue Devils got off to a tough start in the match as they dropped two out of the three doubles matches, creating a situation in which the team had to win four out of the six singles matches to earn a victory.
Senior David Hall and freshman Rob Chess dropped the first seeded doubles match to Princeton's Andy Weiss and Tom Orvald, 8-3. Senior Willy Quest and freshman Peter Ayers were defeated 9-7 in a close match with Gog Boonswang and Mick Leschly of Princeton. Sophmores Chris Pressley and Philippe Moggio picked up a win at the third doubles position by beating Tigers Dave McPherson and Ken Kreidl, 9-8.
Outstanding singles performances, however, allowed the Blue Devils to gain a comeback victory. Hall dropped Princeton's top seed, Weiss, 6-4, 6-2. Quest also took his singles match by beating Princeton's McPherson, 6-4, 6-4.
Pressley, who had outstanding performances last weekend at the USTA/ITA Men's National Indoor Tennis Championship, lost only his second match of the season to the Tigers' Orvald in a three-setter, 4-6,6-4, 6-4.
Playing at the fourth position was Ayers, who lost to Dave Murphy in another tough battle. Murphy picked up the win over Ayers, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. But then the Blue Devils picked up wins at the fifth and sixth positions to win the match.
Chess won an easy match at the fifth spot, taking Princeton's Reed Cordish, 6-2, 6-1. Jordan Murray, another freshman on the team, also picked up a singles win over Boonswang, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
Coach Lapidus has been proud of his freshmen this entire season. Both Chess and Murray were major contributors in Saturday's win, and Peter Ayers has been doing well at the number four spot on the team.
"My freshmen have been great," Lapidus said. "They have really been working hard."
The Blue Devils have their first home match of the spring next Sunday, when they face the Furman Paladins. It will be the last match for the tennis team before a tough road trip out west during Spring Break to play UC Irvine, UCLA, Pepperdine and San Diego.
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