ON DECK: Princeton High girls’ tennis player Phoebe Decker hits a backhand last week as fourth-seeded PHS edged fifth seeded Summit 3-2 in the quarterfinal round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North 2 Group 3 sectional. Sophomore Decker posted a 4-6, 6-2, 10-3 (match tiebreak) victory at second singles to clinch the win for PHS. The Tigers, who defeated top-seeded Ridge 3-2 in the sectional semis last Thursday, were slated to play at second-seeded WW/P-North in the final on October 15 with the victor advancing to the Group 3 state semis on October 17 at Mercer County Park. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Phoebe Decker fell 6-4 in the first set of her match at second singles for the Princeton High girls’ tennis team as it hosted Summit last week in the quarterfinal round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North 2 Group 3 sectional.

But learning that both PHS doubles teams had won their matches, Decker raised the level of her game knowing that if she came through with a victory at second singles, the fourth-seeded Tigers would defeat fifth-seeded Summit and advance to the sectional semis.

“I was trying to keep my momentum and stay positive,” said sophomore Decker. “In the first set, I got a little down on myself. In the second set, I just zoned into the match. I knew two doubles matches have won so I knew it is going to come down to me so I need to focus and turn on my game.”

Decker turned it on, winning the second set 6-2 against Hannah Shirazi, forcing a 10-point match tiebreaker.

“I did try to move her around the court a lot,” said Decker. “She brought me up to the net a lot so I just had to focus on my volleys and overheads. My forehand and backhand on the baseline and my serve was very consistent today.”

In the decisive match tiebreaker, Decker jumped out to a 8-2 lead on the way to winning 10-3.

“I did have some anxiety but I just think of it as a normal game,” said Decker. “It is technically like two games, we do a lot of tiebreaks in practice. I just played the points.”

Clinching the 3-2 win for the Tigers meant a lot to Decker.

“It feels good, knowing that we are going further in states and doing well in the tournament,” said Decker.

PHS kept going in the tourney, defeating top-seeded Ridge 3-2 in the sectional semis last Thursday. The Tigers were slated to play at second-seeded WW/P-North in the sectional final on October 15 with the victor advancing to the Group 3 state semis on October 17 at Mercer County Park.

In reflecting on the sectional run by PHS, Decker points to the team’s upbeat mentality as a key factor in its success.

“When anyone wins a match, everyone is happy,” said Decker. “Even when we lose, everybody has a positive attitude. Winning for the team means a lot because I care about the team a lot.”

Showing her commitment to the team, Decker has remained positive as she has played at second singles this year after starting her career at first singles as a freshman.

“It was frustrating at first, knowing that I came from first singles,” said Decker. “But knowing that it is the correct lineup makes me more firm that this is OK. I am still getting good matches. I am still on the varsity team which is a pretty good thing.”

Decker has continued to improve her game in her new spot.

“I think it is just staying consistent, I have had positive match results,” said Decker. “I don’t know if my game has changed entirely. I am definitely trying to stay more positive in matches and not be too down on myself.”

PHS head coach Sarah Hibbert knew her squad was in for a tight match against Summit.

“I was expecting a battle. On paper, it is four against five, we are both ranked in the top 20, we haven’t had any common opponents,” said Hibbert. “You look at their singles, they had three solid singles players. I know we have two solid doubles teams. I was expecting us to take the doubles points and then we had to pick up one of the singles. That was the game plan.”

Hibbert liked the way Decker battled in pulling out her singles match.

“Phoebe started off really strong and then let a couple of games get away from her and you could see on her face that she was getting frustrated with a couple of different things out there,” said Hibbert. “I told her at the end of the first set to ‘throw it in the garbage can. It never happened, start fresh now, go out and get yourself in a good mental zone and play your best tennis.’ She started the second set really well. She got out to a good lead and then she was able to hold on to it. She came back after the set, saying ‘I feel good about it.’ I said, ‘great, keep that momentum and just keep going, I am not going to say anything about else to you.’ It was great, she really carried the momentum from the set and was able to clinch that for us, that was great.”

The Tigers got some great play, as usual, from its first doubles pair of senior Maya-Alexandra Todorov and junior Ashna Bushan as they rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Molly Feldman and Callie Shroff.

“We can count on them to win matches for us,” said Hibbert of the team who posted a straight-set win in the victory over Ridge. “Today, they played really well, straight sets. One of the spectators was saying, ‘They made hardly any unforced errors. They play well together and they were a steady point for us today.’”

The second doubles team of senior Lada Labas and sophomore Sophia Bruhn is developing into a steady point for the Tigers as well.

“They have been working really well together, they have been setting each other up well,” said Hibbert of the pair who earned straight-set wins against both Summit and Ridge. “At the beginning, it was just making sure that we were keeping our unforced errors under control because we were making a couple of mistakes at the start. They were able to turn that around really well.”

Looking ahead to the Ridge match, Hibbert was cautiously optimistic.

“We are in a very tough section this year,” said Hibbert, whose team topped WW/P-South 4-1 in a regular season match last Friday to improve to 9-1. “Ridge is one of the top teams in the state. They have real strong singles players, but so do we. We have the strength and depth in our doubles. I hope we can put our best showing, let the chips fall where they may and hopefully compete well with them and maybe move on to a final.”

In Decker’s view, the win over Summit showed that PHS can compete with anybody.

“A lot of the players were really good, so it is good that we came through with a win,” said Decker. “It is knowing that we can play hard and play against these better players.”