ON THE BALL: Princeton High boys’ tennis player Aashil Patel focuses in on a backhand in action last week in the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament at the Mercer County Park Tennis Center. Senior Patel finished second at third singles to help PHS take second in the standings of the event won by WW/P-South. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)

By Bill Alden

While the Princeton High boys’ tennis team is featuring a revamped lineup this season, Aashil Patel has emerged as a pillar of consistency.

Senior Patel is back at third singles and has been giving the Tigers superb play at the spot.

Last Thursday, Patel advanced to the third singles final at the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament for the second straight season.

Patel started the day at the Mercer County Park Tennis Center by defeating Colton Schubert of Lawrence High 6-0, 6-3 in the semis.

“I just came out really strong,” said Patel. “I was playing well. I found a good rhythm in the beginning.”

Facing Archyut Ravindran of WW/P-South in the final, Patel played very well but it wasn’t enough as Ravindran prevailed 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

“I know he is really consistent, he plays a lot,” said Patel. “I was trying to get in as much as I could at the net and trying to finish points there. It didn’t work out completely the way I wanted it to. He played really well.”

In the marathon second set, Patel led early but ultimately fell in a tiebreaker.

“I got the break and kept it pretty much the whole time until I lost it,” said Patel. “I was just trying to use my serve as much as I could. It is my weapon which worked pretty well until the end. My serve was pretty strong, that was the biggest thing.”

Having lost in the third singles final last year, Patel was hoping to get over the hump this spring at the competition. While he didn’t get the title, Patel had no qualms with his effort.

“Last year I fell short as well,” said Patel. “I was really hoping to win it this year. It is my last time. I am still proud of the way I played. I think I played pretty strongly.”

Patel has worked hard to be a stronger player in his senior campaign.

“I think it is more the mental side, being more composed on the court,” said Patel. “I have focused on my serve, trying to have a really strong serve.”

PHS head coach Sarah Hibbert liked the focus her squad displayed as it advanced to the semis in all five flights of the competition. The Tigers ended up finishing second in the team standings of the event with 18.5 points as winner WW/P-South scored 22.5 points.

“It is a reshuffled team, they have all stepped into new positions and they have all stepped up and played well,” said Hibbert. “Getting all five through to the semis was a great showing and then we had three through to the final.”

Hibbert credited Patel with stepping up as he battled hard in the third singles final.

“He had to grind out a really tough match there, you could tell by the end that it was just exhausting,” said Hibbert. “It was almost a two and a half hour match. He was really finding his form, he was hitting his groundstrokes solidly. Any time you are in a tiebreaker, it could go either way.”

The PHS first doubles pair of juniors Nolan Maurer and Ryan Litvinsky also advanced to the final where they fell in a 10-point match tiebreak after splitting the first two sets with Andrew Hou and Kaito Mahon of Hopewell Valley. Hou and Mahon ultimately prevailed 6-3, 4-6 (10-4).

“This is their first season together, they have found their stride quickly,” said Hibbert.

“Andrew and Kaito have been a team for four years so they have that experience going for them. Our guys have only been playing together for a month and they were able to take them to a third-set tiebreak. They played really well today. It was just one or two things from the tiebreak, a little bit of nerves.”

The second doubles team of junior Shaam Beri and senior Santiago Montoreano also played well as they made it to the final against Arnav Badisa and Saheb Singh Manku of WW/P-South. Experiencing a similar fate as the first doubles team, they fell in a 10-point match tiebreak as Badisa and Manku pulled out a 6-3, 4-6 (10-6) win.

“The definitely are a solid team, they had some great, great points,” said Hibbert of Beri and Montoreano. “The second set was really strong for them as well. It was a couple of nerves to start the tiebreak. They dug a bit of a hole, they were fighting their way back.”

Junior Emil Kapur advanced to the semis at first singles but ended up falling to eventual champion Ananth Vasishta of Hightstown in that round and then lost to Satvik Pany of WW/P-North in the third-place match.

“First singles is always the toughest position to play because, even with some of the not as strong teams, they have one good player,” said Hibbert. “Every single day, he has to play that top level match all of the time. He has been rising to the occasion and he has played well against some of these really solid players. He has moved up from doubles.”

In the wake of her team’s solid performance at the CVC event, Hibbert believes PHS is primed to compete well in the upcoming New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) team tournament.

“I hope that we can continue settling into positions and just use the experience that we gained today,” said Hibbert, whose team has gotten off to a 5-1 start in dual match play. “I am proud of how hard they worked.”

In the view of Patel, PHS is heading in the right direction as it heads in the homestretch of the season.

“I think it is really coming together, especially our doubles,” said Patel. “We were unsure at the beginning of the year but they have really put in the work and done their best this year. I think our team is looking pretty good. I hope we have a good run in states and that we just keep on getting better from here.”