DOUBLE PLAY: Princeton High boys’ tennis first doubles player Tacto Yamada hits a volley as partner Shaan Zaveri looks on last Wednesday in the final of the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament. The pair of Yamada and Zaveri topped Rohan Ramachandran and Shriyan Kumar of WW/P-South 7-6, 5-7 (10-2) in the first doubles final. PHS ended up falling just short of the team title as WW/P-S piled up 26.5 points with the Tigers scoring 26. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Earlier this month, the Princeton High boys’ tennis first doubles pair of Shaan Zaveri and Tacto Yamada suffered a straight-set defeat against WW/P-South in a regular season matchup.

Last Wednesday, the duo of Zaveri and Yamada were looking to turn the tables on South’s Rohan Ramachandran and Shriyan Kumar as the foes met in a rematch in the first doubles final of the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament.

In the view of senior Zaveri, the pair needed to fight harder at the net to come through in round two against Ramachandran and Kumar.

“We were more aggressive, last time we were more passive and didn’t approach the net as much,” said Zaveri. “This time we were trying to put away our volleys because last time it was windy and we were super stressed. The best thing to do was be consistent and hype each other up.”

Displaying that aggressiveness, the PHS duo won first set 7-6, prevailing 9-7 in the tiebreaker.

“It was very tough we could have ended it at 7-5 but we still won,” said Yamada.“We were resilient.”

After losing the second set 7-5, the PHS pair raised their game in the match tiebreak, winning 10-2 to earn the title.

“It was 2-5 in the second set and we were able to come back,” noted Yamada. “We had the momentum going into the tiebreak…so we just kept it going.”

Zaveri wasn’t surprised by the pair’s dominance in match tiebreak.

“Our coach (Sarah Hibbert) always says practice the tiebreaks and we are always with the second doubles team practicing the tiebreaks,” said Zaveri. “We were able to put away our volleys. Last time we could not put anything away so that was a key factor. I double-faulted a couple of times on my last service game in the second set so I wanted to get focused. It was really great crowd noise.”

As the tournament turned into a two-horse race between PHS and South with the rivals going head-to-head in four of the five finals and the third-place match, the win by Zaveri and Yamada helped turn the battle for the team title into a nailbiter. South, ranked No. 1 in the state by NJ.com, ended up placing first in the inaugural CVC tourney by the narrowest of margins, 26.5-26.

(The Mercer County Tournament Association announced last spring that it was discontinuing county tournaments in favor of a CVC Tournament, which bars local private schools who are not members of the conference.)

Getting the win was special for Zaveri in his final campaign for PHS.

“We got third place last year,” said Zaveri, who teamed up with Yamada at second doubles in 2024. “Before with my old partner Nikita Medvedev we got third place. A win is such a rush, especially against a team we lost to 6-1, 6-1. It means a lot more.”

Yamada, for his part, saw the title as a confidence builder going forward.

“It us very huge for us,” said Yamada. “It is very encouraging for us moving into states.”

Teaming up for a second year has been a huge plus for the duo.

“I think we are more comfortable playing together from last year,” said Yamada.“We learned a lot from our mistakes and how we combine. It is just talking to each other and encouraging ourselves.”

Zaveri believes the pair is in a good groove. “We know all of our signals,” said Zaveri. “We have really practiced them a lot and it shows. We know where to go on the court and Tacto is really consistent. I appreciate that he has always got my back on the groundstrokes.”

PHS head coach Sarah Hibbert appreciated the way her squad played overall as it nearly toppled the Pirates. Tiger junior Andrew Kuo won second singles in a match tiebreak while junior Aashil Patel placed second at third singles and the pair of sophomore Emil Kapur and senior Matt Chen took second at second doubles and junior Garrett Mathewson finished fourth at first singles.

“Overall we had some great matches, making four finals and and a third place match first of all was a great showing,” said Hibbert. “Having all five through to the second day is a great thing. We had two solid performances in the finals, winning in tiebreaks in two of those positions against really solid teams. The two teams that didn’t pull it through in their flights worked really hard. Garrett fought really hard in the third place match, he was in a tough flight.”

The win by Zaveri and Yamada was a highlight for PHS.“They had lost to them in a lopsided match the last time but we all knew they were a much better team than that,” said Hibbert. “It was a combination of things in that match, the conditions were horrible and they just didn’t have a great day. Doubles is very up and down but today they were really able to play well. We always talk a lot about playing a lot of tiebreaks. I also say if you are getting into a tiebreak, it really counts and we have to be confident with them. They worked really hard, the tennis was amazing quality.”

In Hibbert’s view, the quality of play that PHS produced at the CVC should serve as a springboard for the upcoming New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) state team tournament.

“To be that close with them and show that we could take first and second singles and first doubles against them was great,” said Hibbert, whose team topped Hightstown 4-1 last Friday in regular season action to improve to 3-1 and has matches at Notre Dame on May 1 and WW/P-North on May 6. “Garrett won last time, lost today. First doubles lost last time, won today. Second doubles was close. Last year, we beat them 5-0 the first time and they beat us the second time. Hopefully we will be able to use the momentum from this to go forward and have some good matches the rest of the season.”

Zaveri, for his part, is looking to make the most of his final PHS season.

“This will be a big boost of confidence,” said Zaveri. “We have to stay focused. It is don’t shove this one away. We want to keep this one in the back of our minds and know that we can do it.”

Yamada believes that winning the CVC title shows that the pair can defeat anybody.

“I think we can just remember this moment and when we face a big team, we know we can do it and beat them as well,” said Yamada.