SPOILS OF VICTORY: Members of the Princeton Day School boys’ tennis team display the trophies they earned last week as the program won its third straight state Prep B title. PDS scored 12 points at the competition as runner-up Montclair Kimberley had nine. The Panther championship line-up included Anupreeth Coramutla at first singles, Scott Altmeyer at second singles, Lex Decker at third singles, Josiah Meekins and Vivek Sharma at first doubles with Hari Rajagopalan and Jacob Chang at second doubles. The team’s head coach is Will Asch and the assistant is Ed Tseng.

While most tennis players aspire to be singles stars, Josiah Meekins relished playing doubles throughout his career with the Princeton Day School boys’ squad.

“I was coming off eighth grade and I played high singles,” said Meekins. “In high school, I was more part of a team. I didn’t mind playing doubles. I would be ecstatic to play singles but I wanted to help the team. In terms of the team aspect, that was more fun for me, there was more camaraderie, playing with someone else.”

Meekins’ outstanding play at doubles and team-first attitude over the last four years has helped the PDS team emerge as a force in state Prep B circles.

In 2013, the Panthers shared the Prep B crown in a three-way tie before winning it outright this spring.

Coming into this year’s tourney, first doubles star Meekins and his teammates were primed to achieve a three-peat.

“We were pretty confident, we knew our matchups because we got the draw pretty early,” said Meekins, who helped PDS sweep all 10 matches in the preliminary rounds on May 17 as PDS clinched a tie for the title before the final round was even contested. “I was surprised but confident that we could sweep the matches on Sunday.”

The Panthers took care of business in the finals on May 19 at Wardlaw-Hartridge as junior Scott Altmeyer prevailed at second singles and freshman Lex Decker won at third singles to clinch the championship outright as PDS piled up 12 points with runner-up Montclair Kimberley scoring nine.

Meekins and his teammates weren’t in the mood to share the title. “I was tired of having our name next to someone else so that was lots of motivation,” said Meekins. “We wanted to three peat.”

Accomplishing the three-peat was a special way for Meekins to end his PDS career.

“I know it meant a lot to everyone but especially to Hari (Rajagopalan) and me as seniors,” said Meekins, who is heading to Goucher College where he will be playing for its men’s tennis team.

“We had such a good group of guys, we really wanted to win it for them.

I think this was one of the closest group of guys.”

Meekins developed a good chemistry this spring with his doubles partner, freshman Vivek Sharma.

“In my first season, I won a second doubles Prep B title with James Sanderson,” said Meekins.

“I was a freshman and he was a senior. This year, it was reversed. I was the senior. I tried to motivate Vivek and pull him through. It made my year. I brought him along and we played really well.”

PDS head coach Will Asch credited the affable Meekins with setting a positive tone for the team.

“Josiah was a great leader, he is such an excellent kid,” said Asch of Meekins, who also starred for the PDS boys’ hoops team and received the school’s “Frankie K” sportsmanship senior award along with classmate Katie Alden. “Everyone got behind him, everyone wanted to play doubles with him.”

Meekins’ fellow senior, Rajagopalan, produced an excellent finish at second doubles.

“Hari had a great season, he really came on in the last few weeks,” asserted Asch. “He played the best tennis of his four years in the last few weeks of the season. He made a dramatic improvement. Andy Erickson played with Hari most of the year, in practice, some of other kids can beat them in singles but in a match, the seniors are much better, they are much more coachable. They had a lot of experience playing together.”

There wasn’t much drama involved in connection with PDS clinching the outright title.

“Coming into Tuesday, there wasn’t really any doubt,” said Asch. “We had a very nice practice on Monday, the boys had a lot of fun. All Scott had to do was win; he was playing a guy Lex had beaten 0 and 0 earlier. It was nice, we were all very relaxed; it was a coronation really. We were there to have a good time. Scott played fast, his match was over in about 20 minutes. Lex won 0 and 0 in his but it took about an hour.”

With a singles lineup that features sophomore Anupreeth Coramutla at No. 1 along with junior Altmeyer and freshman Decker, PDS boasts a strong core of young talent.

“We have three really good singles players,” said Asch. “Anupreeth is a very talented kid, his best days are ahead of him, he could get a lot better. Scott just keeps getting better. He keeps coming at you, he is very aggressive. He hits the ball hard. Anupreeth is more of a defensive player. Lex is very crafty, he has slices, he hits drop shots, he has an excellent forehand. They all like each other.”

Asch likes the team’s prospects so much that the program is thinking about competing in Prep A next season.

“We are so good at second and third singles, we are thinking about moving up to Prep A next year,” said Asch. “Doubles is going to be a challenge for us. If you want to win tournaments you have to get a few wins at doubles. We have talented players but the question is at what point do they develop chemistry.”

Meekins, for his part, is ready to move up to college tennis. “I am ready to make tennis my life; I loved basketball, but that chapter of my life is closed,” said Meekins.

“I am going to go down to Goucher this summer and hit with the guys, I also want to play a lot of tournaments in the New Jersey area and hit with my PDS teammates.”