BACK ON TOP: Members of the Princeton Day School boys’ tennis team show off the trophies and medals they earned for winning the state Prep B title last week. PDS totaled 10 points in the competition to edge runner-up Rutgers Prep by one point in the team standings. It was the fifth Prep B crown for the Panthers in the last six years.

By Bill Alden

In the first day of the state Prep B boys’ tennis tournament last week, things went smoothly for Princeton Day School as it won nine of 10 matches and advanced players to the finals in four of the five flights of the competition.

But in the final round, PDS struggled as it won only one match but that victory by freshman Aaron Phogat at third singles was enough to give the Panthers the outright title, its fifth Prep B crown in the last six years. PDS totaled 10 points in the competition to edge runner-up Rutgers Prep by one point.

As Panther head coach Will Asch guided his players in the final round on May 22 at the Garden State Tennis Center in Edison, he got an uncomfortable sense of deja vu.

“We sort of ran away with it on the first day; we had a very good day,” said Asch, whose team saw a four-year Prep B title streak come to an end in 2017 when it finished second. 

“We had a very good day last year and we didn’t win it; we had a lot of bad luck between the first day and the second day. It seemed like we were going to have bad luck again.”

The bad run for PDS started when the first doubles pair of Aaron Chu and Riley Gudgel fell in straight sets in their final and then the second doubles team of Eric Leung and Will Sedgley got edged in a three-setter. At first singles, senior Lex Decker won the first set of his final but ended up losing in three sets.

As a result, freshman Phogat needed to win at third singles for the Panthers to earn the outright title.

“He came back from 5-3 in the second and he nearly lost the first so it was not looking good for us,” said Asch of Phogat, who posted a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Joshua Song of Pennington.

“I think he always believes he is going to win. The other player might have been a little more skillful, but Aaron has a very good forehand and he is mentally tough.”

For PDS, competing in the Prep B tourney is a good benchmark for the program on an annual basis.

“We don’t have a conference and we don’t have a realistic chance at the Mercer County Tournament,” said Asch. “This is our chance; it is the only thing that means anything. We don’t book teams for wins, we book them because we try to get teams that are challenging.”

The Panthers boasted a trio of senior stalwarts in first singles star Decker, second singles standout Vivek Sharma, and first doubles player Gudgel, who were constantly up to the challenge over the last four years.

“It is very important to have a first singles player; when Scott Altmeyer graduated, Lex took over that position and he has been very successful there,” said Asch.

“Lex has got a very good record; it is only the top players that beat him. He is right in there and he has a lot of wins for us. Vivek has had some injury issues this year and he is a solid player, too. A lot of schools have good players at second singles. He made a lot of improvement; he went from being a doubles player to being second singles. That is a big step. Riley played all four years and has been very faithful, playing singles, doubles, and coming to every practice. It is going to be a big blow to the team to lose these guys.”

Asch was happy to see those guys go out with a hard-earned title. “It is always nice to win; everybody likes to win,” said Asch. “It was not an easy win; it wasn’t always fun.”