THIRD HAND: Princeton Day School boys’ tennis player Jaylen Peng hits a forehand as he competed in the Colonial Valley Conference Tournament last week. Senior Peng placed third at third singles to help PDS finish seventh in the team standings at the event. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

While Jaylen Peng has done some big things over the years for the Princeton Day School boys’ tennis team, he achieved a breakthrough last week at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament.

Senior Peng advanced to the semifinals at third singles and ended up taking third in the flight for his best-ever finish in the county competition as he defeated Tanush Mendhirata of Hightstown 6-3, 6-4 at the Mercer County Tennis Complex. (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.)

PDS head coach Michael Augsberger credited Peng with adding a special line to his sparkling resume as his third-place showing helped the Panthers take seventh in the team standings at the event won by WW/P-South.

“Jaylen has had a lot of great memories at PDS, starting with clinching the Prep championship for us a couple of years ago,” said Augsberger. “He has been in the front row for a lot of the accomplishments we have had since I have been here. Those were on doubles in the Preps against the smaller schools now. He took his lumps at first singles and he was able to do it this year against the bigger schools at third singles.”

In making it to Wednesday, Peng pulled out a dramatic 3-6, 6-3, (10-5) win over James Zhang of WW/P-North 3-6, 6-3, (10-5) in the quarterfinal round.

“It is a major accomplishment for him, especially closing out matches,” said Augsberger. “That is something he has really worked on over the four years in his time here at PDS. To get through a major pressure situation where he had to serve out both times that is a major accomplishments.”

Peng employed an aggressive approach to help him excel under pressure.

“I think that was a conscious decision from him, starting from when he was 3-0 down in the semifinal,” said Augsberger. “It started to be you have got to take risk or we are going to be packing up quickly. There was nothing to lose there and it carried forward into his second match. He picked the right time to be aggressive. He would slice to keep the ball low on approach when he needed to or he would move in and hit a huge forehand when it was proper to do that. That was a big change from him, starting around the midpoint of that second set in the semi and it worked out for him.”

Reflecting on his squad’s performance overall at the CVC tourney, Augsberger cited the play of sophomore Abhishek Srinivasan at second singles and the pair of junior Jacobo Garcia-Carillo and freshman Faizan Mohammad, at second doubles.

“We are proud of Abhishek who won his first round match,” said Augsberger. “He is in a tough spot, he is a young guy trying to play second singles on defense and wiles in Mercer County. That is tough task, to a get win in a round and then have a good showing in the quarters against a really tough opponent. Second doubles won their first one so we are proud of these guys.”

The return of senior star Steven Li from injury has bolstered the Panther first doubles pair as he combined with junior Avi Saran at the CVC tourney.

“They ran into a tough draw, they lost to Princeton in the first round,” said Augsberger, noting that Li had been playing at singles before hurting his arm.

“It was a blow when we heard that Steven would be out for the season. It is huge to have someone of that caliber back who has won Preps at doubles when he was younger and to has that kind of experience, competitiveness and thoughtfulness as a leader.”

In Augsberger’s view, the experience gained by the Panthers at the CVC will benefit them over the rest of the season.

“We are lucky that we are in Mercer County, this is such a tough ask with outstanding players,” said Augsberger. “It is outstanding preparation for the Preps and the state tournament. Going through this, we have a better chance to win or do damage in preps and to make a good run in the state tournament. We are learning our lineup and the guys are getting experience. Guys like Jaylen are learning how to win tight matches and close it out. The level of competition is such you have to go deep in these other tournaments to find similar competition.”