TITLE SHOT: Princeton Day School girls’ tennis player Kristina Wang hits a backhand in a match last year. Starring at second singles, senior Wang has helped PDS reach final of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public South sectional tournament. The ninth-seeded Panthers were slated to play at second-seeded Trinity Hall in sectional final on October 17 with the victor advancing the Non-Public state final on October 19 at the Mercer County Park tennis facility. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Getting seeded ninth in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public South sectional tournament, the Princeton Day School girls’ tennis team knew it had to hit the road to advance in the tourney.

But for the Panthers assuming the road warrior role was just fine with them.

“We felt pretty confident, we know how the seedings work,” said PDS head coach Michael Augsberger. “The girls aren’t scared by numbers. It takes a little bit of learning and experience to understand how the seeding is made.”

Marching through the draw, PDS posted a 5-0 win at eighth-seeded Union Catholic in the first round on October 5 and then traveled to top-seeded Rutgers Prep for a quarterfinal contest on October 10 and pulled off a 4-1 upset.

Last Thursday, the Panthers headed south and cruised to a 5-0 win over fifth-seeded Paul VI in the semis. PDS was slated to play at second-seeded Trinity Hall on October 17 in the sectional final with the victor advancing to the Non-Public state final on October 19 at Mercer County Park tennis complex.

PDS set the tone for its tournament run with the victory at Union Catholic which saw the Panthers win each match in straight sets.

“They were pretty well-rested and eager to play at that level because our top conference schedule is tough,” said Augsberger. “They were eager to play Union Catholic even though it is on the road. We have gotten to experience a lot of new places.”

In the victory over Rutgers Prep, freshman Prisha Tiwari stepped up at third singles while senior Kristina Wang displayed her experience in cruising at second singles.

“Prisha at third singles was in a fight; the first set went to a tiebreak and it took an hour and a half,” said Augsberger, noting that he was pressed into linesman duties for the tiebreak and made a call that upset Tiwari.

“I have seen so many kids unravel from something like that. She was clearly upset and put it behind her and won the tiebreak. She went on to win it in straight sets. The second set was close too. That was a real sign of maturity for her. Kristina did really well, she was playing someone who hit really hard and she handled the pace really well. That was the quickest match of the day. Typically she plays the longest and she came up to me, saying it was surprising that I finished before anyone else.”

Against Paul VI, the Panthers battled through some early turbulence before settling in.

“The matches could have gone either way; with the longevity of the match, we were able to pull away from Paul VI a bit,” said Augsberger. “Early on, most of the matches were really close.”

Junior Arya Kalra utilized her versatility to earn a 6-2,7-5 victory at first singles while Wang found her form in prevailing 7-5, 6-1 at second singles.

“With Arya up at the top, she was trying to move her opponent depth-wise a lot more, playing to the corners, playing to the back corner and drop shots,” said Augsberger. “She was trying to find time to be a little more aggressive to move her back and forth rather than side to side. With Kristina, once she is able to pull away from someone, her backhand really frees up. Her backhand down the line is really strong. That is the kind of shot that you have to have a little bit of confidence and a little bit of leeway in the scoreboard to able to hit freely.”

The PDS first doubles pair of seniors Ashlyn Du and Hannah Park and the second doubles team of junior Kavita Amin and freshman Zarna Kalra have both been gaining confidence as the season has unfolded.

“They are two big leaders on the team; at first we wanted to try a lot of different combinations,” said Augsberger referring to his first doubles pair. “They seem to be playing better together and part of it is forced by the schedule. We haven’t had many practice days, there is no time to develop chemistry with someone else. They have done a great job of making the best of what we decided earlier in the season. Kavita is one of the best competitors on the team I would say so you could put her with anybody. Zarna also has that mentality, she is a competitor. She is also a lot of fun.”

Augsberger knows that his squad will have to compete hard to overcome Trinity Hall in the sectional final.

“They are a deep team like we are, we can typically rely on doubles to win one or two matches,” said Augsberger, whose team defeated Notre Dame 5-0 in a regular season match last Monday to improve to 12-3. “This one is on edge because their doubles are so deep. They lost the first two singles against Ranney (in a 3-2 win in the sectional semis). That gives us pause, knowing how strong their doubles are.”

The Panthers will also need to draw on their road warrior mentality in order to prevail.

“We had to go into their den two years ago and now they have new digs, they play at a really nice complex at Christian Brothers,” said Augsberger. “At Rutgers Prep, the atmosphere was brilliant because they brought out all the kids from the different sports to cheer. Trinity Hall is going to be just like that because we were there at Christian Brothers for the boys at the pavilion and they bring everybody out. It is incredible fun, that really makes it feel like a professional atmosphere. We are going to have to deal with the crowd. We are not used to that, we don’t deal with crowds very often. I am proud of how they did it at Rutgers Prep.”

It would be a lot of fun for the PDS players to make a trip across the county to MCP for the Non-Public title match.

“They definitely want to be there; it is that honor of playing there on Thursday,” said Augsberger. “It would be immense because it means we would have beaten Trinity Hall. We know what it is going to take to put up a good match against Trinity.”