FRESH APPROACH: Princeton High boys’ tennis player Jerry Gu rips a forehand in a match this spring. Freshman Gu starred at second singles in his debut campaign with the program, helping PHS post a final record of 14-3. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

For the Princeton High boys’ tennis team, its 2016 season was bookended by battling perennial power and eventual state Group 3 champion WW/P-S.

In its season opener against the Pirates in early April, PHS fell 4-1 but showed that it could hold its own with its rival.

“Our original lineup was somewhat competitive with South’s original lineup,” said PHS head coach Sarah Hibbert.

“They proved that they were one of the best teams in the state so it is nice to be able to compete with them.”

The Little Tigers ended the spring by edging the Pirates 3-2 on May 26 as WW/P-S rested some of its stars during its run to the finals of the Tournament of Champions.

“Clearly they didn’t have their best lineup, however with the number of people they have on their team and all that talent, it is fun to beat them,” said Hibbert, who got a three-set win from sophomore Kevin Yang at second singles to pull out the win.

“It came down to a close match at second singles. We lost three sets in doubles and we had tiebreaks; it was close all around. You take your wins where you can get them.”

The Little Tigers had plenty of wins this spring, ending up with a final record of 14-3.

“Overall, we had a good season,” said Hibbert, whose squad finished second to WW/P-S at the Mercer County Tournament.

“We had a showing at counties which was nice. We have a lot of young players. We only lost one senior from our starting lineup. Andrew Lin, the elder of the Lin brothers is a a senior, but other than that our singles are a sophomore (Noah Lilienthal), freshman (Jerry Gu), and sophomore (Yang). Simon Hwang, who filled in a lot for us this season at singles, was also a freshman and most of our doubles guys are juniors.”

The team’s top singles lineup, which featured Lilienthal at No. 1, Gu at No. 2, and Yang at No. 3, was a strength for the Little Tigers this year and figures to be even more formidable in 2017.

“If Noah continues the way he is going, Jerry had a fantastic freshman year, and Kevin made a good move to singles, we definitely have the pieces in place for a strong team if we can keep everyone healthy and dedicated,” asserted Hibbert.

While mixing and matching became the rule for the doubles pairings this spring, Hibbert liked what she got from those spots.

“We were all over the place, that was due first to injury, then illness, then AP testing, and people coming and going due to field trips and projects,” said Hibbert, whose team fell 3-2 to No.7 Chatham in the quarterfinals of the North 2 Group 3 sectional tournament.

“I don’t think we had the same lineup for more than two days in a row overall. Whoever was put out, worked hard and most of the time, they had good results.”

In Hibbert’s view, PHS can have even better results going forward. “We have a fairly young lineup so we have the potential for a strong season again,” said Hibbert.

“We have a shot if we can keep people healthy, working together, on schedule, and all of these good things. They know we can have success against some of the top teams.”