Hoffman Wins Again

HANOVER, N.H. – Yale once again found itself facing off against an Ancient Eight rival at the ECAC Indoor Championship Saturday afternoon at Dartmouth's Boss Tennis Center. The Bulldogs had a late night Friday, falling to No. 60 Harvard in the last of four matches of the day. That put them up against Princeton, the No. 4 seed, on Saturday afternoon, as the No. 70-ranked Tigers had lost to host Dartmouth on Friday. Yale was unable to turn things around in the short time span, falling to the Tigers by the identical score that they fell to the Crimson -- 4-1.

Princeton (3-5) swept the doubles matches to grab a 1-0 lead -- making this the second day in a row Yale lost the doubles point. And with junior Marc Powers not playing singles Saturday, the Bulldogs had to adjust their lineup. Junior John Huang moved up to the top spot that Powers had played at the day before. Huang fell in straight sets to No. 46 Matija Pecotic, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year. Junior Daniel Hoffman moved up to No. 2 and came away with a 7-6, 6-1 win for the Bulldogs' lone point of the day. Hoffman also produced Yale's only point in Friday's match.

Junior Erik Blumenkranz and sophomore Kyle Dawson, playing at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively, each split their first two sets before their matches were called. Straight-set wins at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots were enough to get Princeton the four points needed to clinch the victory.

Yale (4-2) now will face No. 7 seed Columbia (4-2) Sunday to determine the seventh- and eighth-place finishers.

Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity