ENJOYING THE MOMENT: Princeton High boys’ tennis star Kevin Yang is all smiles as he takes a break between matches at the Mercer County Tournament last Wednesday. Sophomore Yang had a lot to smile about as he placed second at third singles, helping PHS take second in the team standings behind champion WW/P-S. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Kevin Yang has moved to third singles from second doubles for the Princeton High boys’ tennis team this spring and is enjoying flying solo on the court.

“It is more fun, I like singles better,” said sophomore Yang. “Everything depends on yourself.”

Last week, Yang had a lot of fun as he took second at third singles at the Mercer County, helping PHS place second in the team standings behind champion WW/P-S.

Yang opened the final day of competition at the Mercer County Park tennis complex last Wednesday with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Rohan Yadav of Hightstown in the semifinals.

“It was a really good start,” said Yang, reflecting on his win over Yadav. “I just tried to keep myself in the moment and whenever I got distracted by thoughts, I would come back to the physical sensations and moments.”

Facing Matt Michibata of WW/P-S in the final, Yang was looking to keep his focus after having lost in straight sets to Michibata earlier this spring in a regular season match.

“I was trying to stay more aggressive and trying to stay out of my mind instead of getting caught up in the train of thought and thinking about the score,” said Yang.

After dropping the first set 6-4, Yang rallied to win the second set 6-3 and force a decisive set.

“I tried to stay more consistent but also aggressive,” added Yang in assessing his play. “My coaches and teammates really helped my comeback; they gave me some good support.”

Yang kept up his aggressive play in the final set, producing some highlight reel points, but it wasn’t enough as Michibata prevailed 6-3.

“I really liked the third set, it is probably one of the best sets I have played,” maintained Yang.

“I tried to keep with him. He was also playing really well and it was a really good last set. It was a great way to end the tournament.”

In Yang’s view, his best tennis is ahead of him. “I think the technique on my forehand and the technique for basically everything has improved,” said Yang.

“I have worked with a new coach, Vivek Subramanian, and he really helped me with it.”

PHS head coach Sarah Hibbert saw Yang’s effort in the final as exemplifying how much he has progressed this season.

“It was a great match for Kevin, he didn’t start out very well here today in the final and the last time they played, Matt beat him in two,” said Hibbert. “For him to show that much improvement in a couple of weeks is great for him.”

The Little Tigers did very well collectively as they battled WW/P-S hard, making the finals in four of five flights.

“We certainly can’t complain, with four guys through to the semis and then four guys through to the finals,” said Hibbert.

“It was certainly a good day; obviously we came up short in the finals but we know South is a tough team, we have already seen them and they are fourth or fifth in the state.”

At first singles, sophomore Noah Lilienthal showed his toughness as he overcame a 5-2 first set deficit in the semis against Eric Biscoveanu of Notre Dame to prevail 7-5, 6-4 before ultimately falling 6-4, 6-3 to Kabir Sarita of WW/P-S in the championship match.

“Kabir and Noah have been back and forth the last two years,” said Hibbert. “Noah is coming back from being injured. It is a lot of tough tennis; he had two really hard matches where Kabir rolled through his first one 0 and 0.”

Freshman Jerry Gu made a fine debut as second singles, rolling through the draw without losing a set until losing 6-3-6-2 to Robert Siniakowicz of WW/P-S in the finals.

“Jerry did a great job as well to come in here as a freshman, to not just make the final but put up a good showing,” added Hibbert. “It was very competitive, it was deuces all around.”

The first doubles pair of the Lin brothers, Andrew and Eric, showed their competitive fire as they made it to the finals as well.

“The Lins definitely played well as a team today; they were communicating well and they just ran up against a tough team in the final,” said Hibbert of the Lins, who fell 6-2, 6-1 to Mihir Singh and Alex Yang of WW/P-S.

“They had a great semi. We weren’t sure that was the original plan but due to a variety of factors, that looks like it is going to be our strongest pairing going forward. They are starting to click.”

With the state tournament around the corner, Hibbert is hoping her team’s performance at the MCT will lead to strong play down the stretch.

“It definitely lets us know we have came a long way, we have gotten better,” said Hibbert.

“There are some things we can do to continue improving. We need to keep working with our doubles and especially the bottom of our lineup. It is also keeping everyone healthy. That is always the key because it is a lot of matches. We are coming into four matches a week; it is a lot of work for these guys.”

Yang, for his part, is looking forward to the matches ahead.

“This year the team is really great, we really support each other,” said Yang. “We played really well in this tournament.”