Thursday, April 17, 2025

Spring Ahead

Well, it looks like the last of the wintry weather has gone. 

Just consider the forecast for this weekend's Ivy League women's golf tournament: sunny each day, with highs in the mid 80s. 

What? Oh, the tournament is in Naples, Fla.? 

The last few weeks in the Northeast have been fairly awful weather-wise. There was even snow in Princeton this past Saturday morning. 

It could have been worse. TigerBlog was in a meeting yesterday, and one of the people on the call was near Syracuse. He was mentioning something about four inches of snow. 

Ah, but the forecast is an improving one. Spring, it appears, might finally be here. If you look at the next 10 days in Princeton, it's certainly promising. 

It's about time.

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The women's golf tournament begins tomorrow and runs through Sunday, for a total of 54 holes. It'll be held at the Royal Palm Golf Club. 

Victoria Liu, a senior, is looking for her third Ivy League individual championship, after winning as a freshman and junior. Should she win again, she would become only the second women's player ever to win three. 

The first? Princeton's Avery Kiser, who did so from 2002-04. Only one man has done so — Yale's Bob Heinz (1990-92).

To win, Liu will have to get past, among others, her teammate Caroline Rao, fresh from playing at Augusta National. 

Princeton is chasing its first team title since 2022. The men's tournament is next week in Pennsylvania. 

You can follow the live results HERE.

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If you like watching volleyball in Dillon Gym, then you'll get a chance for more this spring if Princeton can win at least one of two this weekend at Penn State. The first match is tomorrow at 7, with another Saturday at 3.

Right now, the EIVA standings have Princeton in first place at 9-1, followed by Penn State at 7-3. Princeton has clinched a share of the regular season championship, but a pair of Nittany Lion wins would earn a tie and the tiebreaker for the host role for the upcoming league tournament. 

There will be six teams in the tournament, beginning with two quarterfinal games Wednesday, followed by the semifinals Thursday and the championship game a week from tomorrow. 

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The Ivy League softball season has three weekends to go, and Princeton enters the stretch run at 11-1, three games up in the standings. 

Harvard and Dartmouth are both at 8-4 to tie for second, which makes the Crimson 8-1 since an opening weekend sweep at the hands of the Tigers. One game back would be Brown and Columbia at 7-5 as the teams look for a top four finish and a spot in the Ivy League tournament, to be held at the home of the top seed. 

Princeton plays three games at its sparkling new home Cynthia Paul Field  against Columbia this weekend (single game tomorrow at 3:30, doubleheader Saturday at 12:30) and then has trips to Penn (0-12) and Brown to finish the Ivy season. 

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The baseball team is also home this weekend and then on the road the last two weekends. There will be three with Brown at Clarke Field, with a doubleheader that starts at 11:30 Saturday and a single game Sunday at noon.

After that will be trips to Yale and Cornell. 

Princeton appears to be in a three-way fight for an ILT spot, along with Cornell and Dartmouth, though a lot can change over the next three weekends. Penn is currently in first place at 10-2, with Columbia and Yale next at 8-4. 

Princeton is 5-6 after only getting in two of its three scheduled games at Harvard last weekend, followed by 5-7 Dartmouth and Cornell. Harvard is 3-8, followed by 3-9 Brown.

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As is always the case this time of year, it'll be a busy Saturday on Carnegie Lake. 

Princeton will be home in men's heavyweights, against Harvard for the Compton Cup, followed by the open women against Yale for the Eisenberg Cup. Racing begins at 8:30.

The men's lightweights will be in Philadelphia, rowing against Penn for the Wood-Hammond Trophy. 

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The complete weekend schedule is HERE.

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