SERVING IT UP: Princeton Day School boys’ tennis player Joshua Chu follows through on a serve in a match this spring. Last Wednesday, senior Chu fell at second singles as PDS lost 4-1 to the Newark Academy in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public state final. The defeat left PDS with a final record of 11-5-1. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

With an eerie smoky orange haze settling over the Mercer County Park tennis complex last Wednesday afternoon, the Princeton Day School boys’ tennis team took the court to face perennial powerhouse Newark Academy in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public state final.

Underdog PDS was fired up for the challenge of trying to upend the Minutemen, who came into the day with 29 state titles in program history.

“We really needed to bring the energy to match their energy because we knew coming in it was going to be like that,” said PDS heads coach Michael Augsberger. “They are famous for the positive energy that they have. We love that.”

Displaying plenty of energy, the Panthers pushed Newark Academy to the brink in a dramatic clash. With PDS first singles star Heyang Li prevailing in his match while the Minutemen posted victories in second doubles and second singles, the match came down to third singles and first doubles.

In both of those matches, the Panthers rallied to force a third set to put things on a knife’s edge. Showing its championship pedigree, Newark managed to pull out wins in the nail-biters to earn a 4-1 victory.

While Augsberger was disappointed with the result, he had no qualms with the fight displayed by his players.

“We are proud of what our guys did; we were in it until the end,” said Augsberger, whose team finished the spring at 11-5-1 as it earned the Prep B state team title along the way. “To come here and almost topple Newark Academy, that is really special. We don’t take moral victories — we understand the level of play that these guys have. We are right there with them, a couple of points away. That is why they are who they are; that is the sports psychology that they are famous for. They are very good at that and it was great for us to be able to test ourselves against that.”

Panther senior standout Jason Wu put up a ferocious fight at third singles, rallying to force a third set against Aryan Grover before the Newark standout prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to clinch the victory for the Minutemen.

“I tried to control the baseline more,” said Wu. “I hit a lot more high, deep shots to his backhand which resulted in him hitting short and me being able to attack from there.”

Pressing the attack, Wu brought a lot of momentum into the third set. “I felt like I was going to win it,” recalled Wu. “In the second game, I was up 40-love serving and I just lost focus. I lost five points in a row and then the momentum completely shifted. I think he and his coach had the plan to go high and heavy to my backhand. I struggled a lot in the third set, I think that is how he won.”

Wu took the setback hard, banging his racket on the court and sitting alone for minutes on an adjacent court to gather his thoughts.

Putting things in perspective, Wu acknowledged that ending his career in a state final was something to cherish.

“It is a very special day because it is the last day being with these guys,” said Wu. “There are four or five seniors on the team.”

Another PDS senior, Joshua Chu, gave his all in his last day on court with his classmates as he fell 6-4, 6-2 to Ethan Polen.

“The past couple of matches, I wasn’t playing too well,” said Chu. “I definitely found my feel a little more in this match. Ethan is a good player, I tried my best.”

Chu felt good about what the Panthers have accomplished this spring. “As a team, this was one of our best seasons by far in the last decade,” said Chu. “It is amazing. I really enjoyed it over the last three years. I really had a good time.”

Winning the second singles title at the Prep B tourney as the Panthers rolled to the team title was an amazing moment for Chu.

“It meant a lot because we won it back-to-back,” said Chu. “This year I played second singles, so it was a different field to play. I lost in the semis last year in the Preps at first singles. I was able to win it this year, that was a special moment.”

The Panthers got a special victory against Newark Academy at first singles from sophomore star Heyang Li as he topped Andrew Kotzen 6-3, 6-4.

“That is a very satisfying win, especially going into the state singles tournament,” said Augsberger of Li, who made the Round of 16 last weekend at the state singles tournament before getting knocked out. “That shows what Heyang can do because everybody knows the respect that Kotzen has across the state. Heyang really played top-notch tennis. He was able to work in his backhand, he was able to come up when he was supposed to and he stayed positive the whole time.”

The first doubles pair of senior Oliver Silverio and junior Steven Li stayed positive as they forced a third set in their match before Newark Academy’s Evan Lai and Jean-Luc Marchand pulled out a 6-2, 6-7, 7-6 win.

“Oliver is an incredibly smart player,” said Augsberger. “He is probably the most intelligent guy out there in terms of shot selection and using his talent as much as he can get out of it, hustling on every point, making tough decisions like going down the line when he sees the opening. What they have done in this match is that they tried to play their game in the beginning and they needed to adjust and they hit a lot more lobs. It has given them trouble and that is what got them back in the second set.”

Augsberger was not surprised to see Wu get back into his match against Grover.

“Jason has done that so many times this year, he has saved match points and turned matches around after dropping the first set,” said Augsberger. “Jason is the grinder. He takes it really hard. He cares that much, that is the thing. He has learned to keep it in perspective over time and now he is able to channel it.”

Chu tried his hardest to turn his match around, but just came up short.

“Especially at the beginning of the second set, Josh really turned things around by raising his energy level, hitting behind Polen a bit,” said Augsberger. “He has a huge reach, he is vocal and has a lot of positive energy. Working with Josh, it was more about keeping the energy up.”

Chu has shown a growth over his PDS career that is emblematic of his senior stalwarts of Wu, Silverio, and second doubles standout Farhan Mohammad.

“It has been incredible to watch him and the other guys mature over the three years I have been here,” said Augsberger. “Farhan is the glue that holds everybody together. I am going to miss the guys.”

Wu, for his part, liked the way the guys worked together this spring.

“I feel like we played really well as a team, we worked well as a team, we practice well as a team,” said Wu, who is headed to Middlebury College and plans to play club tennis and may walk on to its men’s squash program. “Our goal was to repeat in the Prep Bs and do better in the state finals which we did. We got the sectional win which we didn’t get last year. In the Prep Bs, we were very dominant.”

Chu won’t soon forget the good times he had with the Panther team.

“I definitely think that this tennis program at PDS helped me a lot,” said Chu, who is going the University of Rochester where he will be playing for its men’s tennis team. “Most of our starters are seniors, we came up together. The bus rides home were the best part of this. Tennis is an individual sport — it is very good to make it a team sport.”