By Bill Alden

Having scaled down its match schedule this fall, the Princeton Day School girls’ tennis team is hoping that extra training time will lead to some high level play as the season unfolds.

“This is our second year in the conference (the Colonial Valley Conference), we have reduced the number of matches from what we played last year,” said PDS head coach Michael Augsberger. “That will give us a little more time to work on things we need to improve on in practice. I think that we are in a good position to compete for the sectional, just like in the last couple of years.”

The Panthers showed some improvement as they nearly toppled perennial CVC powerhouse WW/P-South on September 12, falling 3-2 to the Pirates.

“South was a great match,” said Augsberger, whose team defeated Hightstown 4-1 last Thursday to improve to 3-2. “We had a tiebreak and we had one of our girls, Arundhati [Prabhu], coming back in the second set. We had two chances to win that match.

The return of senior star Arya Kalra at first singles gives the Panthers the chance to win a lot of matches.

“Arya has improved a lot, I would say she is a little more consistent,” said Augsberger. “I think that her fitness is better, she is able to last a little bit longer. Her movement is better and she is making better decisions in terms of whether to go for winners or to play it safe. Over the last couple of years, she was neck and neck with other girls. This year she was pretty much emphatically the best.”

At second singles, the arrival of freshman Arundhati Prabhu has been a big plus for PDS.

“Arundhati is probably the most intense payer and thinker on the squad,” said Augsberger. “She is small, she is still building up the strength. But for someone who is that small, she uses her entire momentum and body to put force into the ball. She can hit almost as hard as any of the other singles players. She has very strong accuracy, she is very seasoned in terms of competition.”

The Panthers boast a seasoned competitor at third singles in sophomore Prisha Tiwari.

“Prisha has gotten stronger, that is the first thing that I noticed,” said Augsberger. “She is progressing in her ability to step back and regroup herself mentally with composure. That was something we identified as something to improve on last year, and I have seen progress with that.”

At first doubles, senior Kavita Amin and sophomore Zarna Kalra have teamed up for a second straight season.

“They played together last year, they wanted to continue that chemistry and that progress they were making last year,” said Augsberger. “They have the lefty/righty combination so they complement each other so that is nice. Kavita is one of the next singles players. She has the baseline game and the ability to track balls down whereas Zarna has a little more power. She is younger but has a little more reach with her volleys.”

At second doubles, sophomore Shuchi Vanga and senior Vera Goliyad have been paired together and are working on getting in sync.

“Shuchi is the most improved player on the team from last year, she has made a big jump from being someone who was just on a strong team and was the eighth player,” said Augsberger. “Vera was probably ninth or 10th on the squad — she had some experience in matches. They are clearly the two best players for the job. They are a new pairing and they are still trying to develop the chemistry. They are both positive-minded and don’t get down on each other. They have some tough losses to grind through already. What has come to the forefront is their ability to take things in stride, be positive, and look for the solutions instead of blaming each other.”

With PDS playing at Hopewell Valley in September 26 and hosting Robbinsville on September 30 before starting play in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public team tournament, Augsberger believes his players are grinding on a daily basis as they look to raise the level of their game.

“The beginning of the season is so much about setting the lineup; now we are able to develop the doubles strategy more, giving them tools to combat what other doubles teams are throwing at them,” said Augsberger. “We couple that with repetitions to really improve volleying and to really improve overheads — things that are doubles-specific almost. For the singles players, it is getting used to the level of competition they are going to face on a day in, day out basis. Prisha and Arya are accustomed to that already. Arundhati is not, she is a freshman plopped into second singles right away so she is going to get used to that. She has played enough tournaments to know what levels of player are out there.”