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PHS Boys' Tennis Can't Hide Its Frustration In Bitter Loss to Moorestown in State Semis
By Bill Alden
The players on the Princeton High boys' tennis team couldn't hide their frustration as they were edged by Moorestown last Thursday in the Group III state semifinals.
PHS senior Nate Abraham blasted the ball against the fence at the Mercer County Park courts after he and partner David Chen dropped the first set on their way to a straight-set loss at second doubles.
First doubles player Brent Willig buried his head in his hands after he and Joey Wu absorbed a straight-set loss of their own.
David Westerberg shook his head and grimaced after he double-faulted on the last point of his 6-2, 6-1 loss at third singles that officially ended the Little Tigers' season.
For PHS, the disappointment started before the first ball was hit Thursday as Moorestown head coach Bill Kingston successfully challenged the PHS line-up.
After a 15-minute discussion, NJSIAA officials accepted Kingston's claim that Graham MacDonald shouldn't be allowed to play at third singles on the grounds that there was no proof that he had won the intra-squad challenge matches to merit that spot. PHS had argued that when there is an injury at singles, coaches are customarily allowed to use a player who might not be next on the depth chart in order to keep doubles teams intact.
After suffering that setback, PHS head coach Stuart Woody's grim expression never changed as he went from court to court to guide his charges.
"I have a big problem with Bill Kingston, he premeditated the whole thing," said Woody, who got straight-set wins from Ilia Shatashvili at first singles and Chris Hoeland at second singles as he team fell 3-2.
"He planned that challenge as gamesmanship. The line-up had been certified two days earlier when we played Ocean Township in the sectional finals. That [Kingston's challenge] goes against sportsmanship."
Woody conceded that Kingston¹s ploy unsettled some members of his squad. "Ilia has played so long at the highest level so that was not going to faze him, same with Chris," recalled Woody, who is in his first year guiding the Little Tigers. "It hurt Brent and Nate psychologically coming out. There is no way that their doubles teams are that much better than ours."
The last-minute line-up change was particularly hard on Westerberg. "David Westerberg was down there as a fan," added Woody.
"He didn't even come to the match on our bus, his mother drove him. He was not prepared to play and that makes it hard to do well. He got thrown in there and had all the pressure on him at the end."
In the end, Woody felt that the challenge had put a taint on Moorestown's win. "If I had my best against their best, we might not have won anyway," added Woody. "But if I'm one of their players, while I'd take the win, I would think there is a doubt, an asterisk."
But the bitterness of last Thursday can't take away what PHS accomplished this spring as it went 19-7 and produced a major highlight when it topped Ocean Township 4-1 in the sectional final without Shatashvili, who was in Texas playing in a national competition.
"That was our goal all year," said Woody, referring to the sectional crown. ³We wanted that chance to get back to the state semis. We overachieved in many ways to get back. I'm happy that we were able to win the sectional without Ilia being there. That was especially big for the other seniors since they may not play in college."
In Woody's view, the lessons learned from the season will benefit all of his players. "I know that Ilia and Chris, in particular were disappointed that we didn¹t get through Moorestown,² said Woody, noting that his two top singles players will get a chance for some consolation as they compete in the NJSIAA state singles competition this weekend.
"Considering everything the team has been through, we had to fight through some adversity. Athletics is such a help for dealing with the real world. You find out how deep you're willing to dig, you learn a lot about yourself."
