HAND IN HAND: Princeton High girls’ tennis first double players, Rachel Kleiman, left, and Nikhita Salgame celebrate a point during their 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over Stephanie Ji and Kim Wong of WW/P-S in the finals of the Mercer County Tournament (MCT) last Wednesday. The win by Kleiman and Salgame at first doubles was a highlight as PHS finished second in the team standings to champion WW/P-S. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

In mid-September, the Princeton High girls’ tennis first doubles team of seniors Nikhita Salgame and Rachel Kleiman fell in straight sets to the WW/PS pair of Stephanie Ji and Kim Wong in a regular season match.

Last Wednesday, the pairs ended the month by meeting in the finals of the Mercer County Tournament (MCT) and it looked like history was repeating itself as Ji and Wong won the first set in a tiebreaker.

But Kleiman sensed that she and Salgame were not going to fold in the match, which was held in the indoor tennis complex at Mercer County Park. “I think today we were definitely stronger mentally because we realized how important it was,” said Kleiman.

“When we lost the first set, we just knew that we had to come back. We were pumping each other up.”

When PHS dropped the first two games of the second set, Salgame knew that the pair couldn’t focus on the score.

“It was love-two so it was we have nothing to lose; let’s just play for fun,” recalled Salgame.

Kleiman and Salgame started to have a lot of fun, rallying to win the second set 6-4 and force a decisive third set.

“We found our groove and we were in a rhythm,” said Kleiman. “There was this one game where I was serving and we had about 25 deuces; it was a 20-minute game and we finally ended up winning it. I said this is a metaphor for the match. We fought, we fought and we are going to win. We just we knew we had to.”

In the third set, Kleiman and Salgame found themselves in a fight as an early 3-0 lead evaporated before they settled down to pull out a 6-4 win and the title.

“They came back and it was 3-all; we just had to regroup and we effectively regrouped,” added Kleiman. “It was a wake-up call, we knew we needed to be sharper with our shots.

Salgame, for her part, was confident the pair wouldn’t let the title slip away. “We needed to get our momentum back,” said Salgame. “We knew we could hit our shots and get our volleys in place.”

Getting the crown was sweet for the two seniors. “It is our last time playing in the MCT, it is great,” said Salgame. “We have been friends the past four years, we joke around a lot on the court.”

PHS head coach Sarah Hibbert smiled as she reflected on how Kleiman and Salgame rallied for the title, providing a major highlight as PHS finished second in the team standings behind WW/P-S.

“They were able to turn it around today, be aggressive, put away their volleys and take control,” said Hibbert.

“They lost a very tough first set in a tiebreaker but I think in a way it almost gave them confidence that — hey you know what, we were right there with them today, this could go either way. They fought hard, they didn’t give up after losing that set.”

Hibbert isn’t surprised at how well the first doubles pair has come together.

“They are both seniors, they are good friends,” said Hibbert. “They complement each other well. They communicate a lot. They were able to really put it together today and that is great for them.”

The second doubles team of Maggie Herring and Caroline Tan came through to take third as did Elise Gerdes at second singles and Brinda Suppiah at third singles.

The third-place finishes by Gerdes and Suppiah were particularly heartening to Hibbert.

“Elise jumped up from second doubles and Brinda was on JV second doubles; to make that jump up to second and third singles and to score third in the county in arguably one of the toughest years is something,” said Hibbert, whose team also started state tournament play last week, topping Red Bank Regional 4-1 in the first round of the North 2, Group 3 sectional and was slated to face WW/P-S in the quarters on October 6. “There are some really strong players. It is great for them to get a medal.”

While PHS fell short of winning a second straight county team title, Hibbert liked the way her revamped squad competed.

“I am really proud of them,” asserted Hibbert, noting that her 2015 lineup is radically different from last year.

“You could always talk about what you don’t have this year but there is no sense in talking about that. It is talking about who is here and what they did do and what they are capable of. These girls all worked really hard together; they have all tried as much as they can to raise the level of their games.”