RARE AIR: Princeton High girls’ tennis player Aariyana Patel displays her form in a recent match. Sophomore Patel has moved up to first singles this year and has helped PHS get off to a 4-0 start. This week, the Tigers will be starting action in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) South Jersey Group 3 Tournament where they are seeded seventh and are slated to host a quarterfinal match on October 1 against the victor of the first round match between 23rd-seeded Middletown North and 10th-seeded Moorestown. In addition, the Tigers will be continuing regular season action by hosting Lawrence on October 6. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Defeating a gauntlet of formidable foes to start the season, the Princeton High girls’ tennis team has served notice that it could be on its way to a special campaign.
In its first four matches, PHS posted 5-0 wins over Notre Dame and Hopewell Valley before edging WW/P-North 3-2 and topping WW/P-South 4.75-.25.
“The way the season has started has been great,” said PHS head coach Sarah Hibbert. “We have had all tough matches so far and the team has done very well.”
The wins over longtime nemeses North and South was a very good sign for the Tigers.
“They are two of our biggest opponents and competitors so being able to win both of those matches was amazing,” added Hibbert. “We are hoping we can continue that success as a team as the season progresses.”
Sophomore Aariyana Patel has made progress as she has moved up to first singles this year from second singles with last year’s No. 1 senior Phoebe Decker shifting to the second spot.
“Aariyana and Phoebe switched positions this year, last year their challenge matches were very close,” said Hibbert. “Aariyana was a freshman and I think there were some nerves about coming in for tryouts. There is some extra maturity now, there is another year of tennis under her belt.”
Patel is thriving in her new spot. “She is very consistent and can hit the ball very hard and place it really well,” said Hibbert. “She likes to work hard and challenge herself. She has been doing well in her first couple of matches in that spot.”
Decker, for her part, is doing well in the move to second singles.
“Phoebe is handling it very well, she has been both first and second singles for us,” said Hibbert. “She has handled both brilliantly. She brings the experience of having to play those really hard matches all of the time. At second, sometimes she plays really hard matches and sometimes she gets a bit of a break. She has the groundstrokes and she can come up and volley. She is a nice all-court player. She has been improving her mental toughness and focus in matches when they start getting tough.”
Sophomore Amelia Huang is back at third singles and is showing good focus in her game.
“Amelia has been consistent for us,” said Hibbert. “She is very steady as a baseliner. She can be patient which is really beneficial in a third singles spot because often you will find people who play for long rallies. She has a nice blend of patience to handle it but also has the power and aggression where she can also put it away and get out of those rallies.”
At first doubles, a pair of seniors, Sophia Bruhn and Ksenia Petukh, have teamed up to give PHS plenty of experience at that spot.
“Sophia has been in the doubles lineup since her freshman year, she played second for two years and moved up to first last year,” said Hibbert. “We found that the two of them matched well. They are both seniors but it is the first time they have played together. Ksenia played with Luna [Xu] last year at second doubles. We did debate about keeping them together. But losing Ashna [Bushan] at first doubles, we felt that balancing everything with personalities and tennis styles it makes sense to pair Sophia and Ksenia together.”
The pair has been coming together. “They both have good groundstrokes and they both have solid volleys as well,” said Hibbert.
“They are starting to really learn to work well with each other. That tiebreak against North was a huge moment for them. They were down 7-9 and had match points against them and they were really able to stay tough when it counted and fight back and even it up at 10 all. Then they were able to pull out the 14-12 win and that wound up being the clincher for us.”
Senior Allison Wang and junior Xu are producing some good work at second doubles.
“This is Allison’s first year on varsity and she stepped up in these first couple of games, her game has really improved,” said Hibbert.
“Luna had a year of varsity experience last year. The two of them are coming together nicely and learning how to work together and balance each other’s games. I am hoping for good things to continue.”
Hibbert is hoping that the Tigers will do some very good things as they start action in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) South Jersey Group 3 Tournament where PHS is seeded seventh and is slated to host a quarterfinal match on October 1.
“There were rule changes this year where you had to play a minimum of eight matches to be a top five seed,” said Hibbert. “I think we should do better than our seed. We do have four seniors. Those people who have been members of the team for a while hope to have the best season we can.”