SECOND ACT: Princeton High boys’ tennis player Jerry Gu smacks a backhand in action last week at the Mercer County Tournament. Junior Gu won the title at second singles to help PHS tie WW/P-North for second in the team standings behind champion WW/P-South. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Noah Lilienthal was back where he belonged as he competed for the Princeton High boys’ tennis team last week as the Mercer County Tournament.

After winning the MCT title at first singles as a freshman in 2015 and then taking second the next year, Lilienthal took a hiatus from the PHS team last spring due to other commitments. The skilled senior lefty returned to the team and playing in his final MCT, he advanced to the first singles final in the stadium court last Thursday at the Mercer County Park’s tennis complex.

“I have had a lot of success here, so coming here, I remember all of the memories from when I was a freshman,” said Lilienthal, who his headed to Wesleyan University to play for its men’s tennis program. “There are a lot of positive things even when I just practice here.”

One of the positives for Lilienthal is the raucous atmosphere at the stadium courts for big matches.

“There are only a couple of tournaments where you get a crowd, and I love playing here with the guys cheering you on,” added Lilienthal.

There were a lot of cheers in the air as Lilienthal faced Brown-bound Robert Siniakowicz of WW/P-South in the championship match. The two produced some riveting tennis with Siniakowicz prevailing 6-4, 6-4.

“We know each other so well; it came down to just a few points,” said Lilienthal.

“He won the big points; that is what put him over the edge today, whereas I could have been more intense and could have played with more margin. Credit to him, he played better tennis.”

One court over at the stadium, PHS junior Jerry Gu, who has also returned to the Little Tiger program after a hiatus last spring, produced some brilliant tennis, winning the second singles title, pulling out a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 triumph over Matthew Michibata of WW/P-South.

“It has been special to interact with my fellow teammates; I am so happy that I got this win today here,” said a smiling Gu, reflecting on coming back to the team and earning the title, his first county crown.

Overcoming Michibata required a special effort by Gu. “It was ‘serve big, grind, and just be really solid,’” said Gu.

“In the third set, it was just ‘regroup, don’t think about the second set too much and just start fresh.’ I came out and I broke his serve right away, and I got a good momentum going, and I was able to keep it for the whole match.”

PHS head coach Sarah Hibbert, whose squad tied WW/P-North for second in the team standings behind champion WW/P-South, liked the way her players kept grinding at the tourney.

“I thought they played really well, it was great having all of the singles players make the finals,” said Hibbert, who got a second place finish from senior Kevin Yang at third singles. “They all worked really hard.”

While Lilienthal’s hard work didn’t result in a title, Hibbert liked the way he competed.

“Noah unfortunately didn’t have his best day today,” said Hibbert. “His game was a little bit off but it was a very high quality match.”

At second singles, Gu showed his quality. “Jerry played great, he fought really hard to come back in that third set,” said Hibbert.

“He started off really strong and in the second set, it was close, but it kind of got away from him a little bit, but he refocused tremendously well. He was very focused, he worked really hard. He played some great tennis right at the end; that is a great win for him.”

Yang, who was topped 6-1, 6-3 by Alex Yang of WW/P-South, also had a strong performance.

“Kevin played really well today,” said Hibbert. “He played a good semifinal match and unfortunately he ran into a tough opponent today in the final. He was very competitive in the beginning of the sets.”

Showing some competitive fire, the PHS second doubles pair of Aryaman Babber and Sameer Joshi reached the semis and ended up fourth while the first doubles duo of Richard Yang and Simon Hwang got knocked out in the second round in a tough three-set defeat.

“They are still working on getting their rhythm together as they haven’t played that many matches,” said Hibbert of her second doubles team.

“They worked hard and they improved in their third match. It was a little disappointing for us the way it worked out with first doubles because our first doubles gave North a much better match than they got in the semifinal today. Overall, everyone had a good tournament.”

Looking ahead to the state tournament, Hibbert believes her team can do some damage.

“We have a very strong singles lineup and first doubles is really powerful; we just need to have the consistency to work with them,” said Hibbert. “There is a lot of good teams in the area and the state; we have to play well.”

Lilienthal, for his part, feels that PHS has the talent to compete with anybody it faces.

“I have some things to improve on; all of our singles guys have a lot of things to improve on,” said Lilienthal.

“We need to get our doubles playing well as a team, those points are really crucial. If we can put all of the pieces of the puzzle together, I don’t see why we can’t beat the top teams in the state. From top to bottom, we have junior sectional and national level players, which a lot of teams don’t have.”