(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption: POISED FOR GREATNESS: Princeton Day School freshman tennis star Samantha Lieb prepares to fire a serve last Wednesday in the Mercer County Tournament first singles championship match. Lieb topped Hun’s Kara Shoemaker 6-2, 6-1 to win the crown. In the team standings, PDS placed fourth of 18 schools.

PDS Freshman Lieb Doesn’t Feel the Heat in Cruising to MCT First Singles Crown

Bill Alden

All eyes were on Princeton Day School freshman Samantha Lieb as she competed last week in the Mercer County Tournament (MCT).

The precocious Lieb was seeded No. 1 at first singles and her opponents were very aware of the fact that she had ranked in the top 50 in the country in the Under-14s before moving up to the U-16 ranks.

Despite having the bull’s eye planted firmly on her back in the competition held at Mercer County Park, Lieb was taking things in stride.

“I had no pressure coming in,” said Lieb. “I was the No. 1 seed but being a freshman, I’m at the point where I just want to play in this tournament.”

Lieb demonstrated that her game is at a point well beyond the competition as she won four straight-set wins on the way to earning the first singles crown.

With the weather bringing steamy, mid-80s conditions to Mercer County Park on the final day of the competition, Lieb had to deal with an additional challenge.

“I was so tired out there, I had to make sure to have a Power Bar,” said Lieb.

“I felt sluggish out there. I did hydrate before but that’s not enough; you’d have to hydrate for a couple of days for conditions like this.”

Lieb had to work hard to subdue Hun’s Kara Shoemaker in a match that was tougher than the 6-2, 6-1 score indicates.

“She was so tough; she was playing really well,” said Lieb. “She was playing a lot different than the last time I played her. She was just getting to every ball and running everything down.”

While Shoemaker may have been covering the court well, she didn’t have the game to match the focused Lieb.

“Being aggressive always works for me,” explained Lieb of Shoemaker. “I just felt good out there. My serve was a little bit off; it could have been better. My ground strokes were there so I was happy with that.”

Lieb, who won a national tournament in Glen Cove, N.Y. over Labor Day weekend, said that she was hardened by playing at that level of competition.

“I’ve been playing a lot of national tournaments,” said Lieb. “Sometimes they can be one match a day, sometimes it can be two matches, you never know. That definitely got me ready for this tournament.”

PDS head coach Patty Headley is definitely happy to have Lieb on her squad.

“Sammy is a great athlete, she is a credit to our school in both an academic and athletic way,” said Headley.

“She’s modest and unassuming. She apparently has nerves of steel because she had never played high school tennis and she comes out and wins the Mercer County Tournament.”

In Headley’s view, it is Lieb’s mental approach that sets her apart from her competition.

“Everybody playing at first singles hits that ball a ton, there is a lot of pace,” said Headley.

“The biggest part of it is anticipation because if you can know a split second before your opponent where that ball is going you have the advantage. Sammy can do that and that is the difference between a really good tennis player and a great player.”

PDS also got a great effort from third singles player Brittany Christian, who upset third-seeded Jenn Yi of Princeton High, to advance to the semifinals.

“She got to the second day, I think the heat got to her today,” said Headley, whose team topped WW/P-N 3 to 1 last Monday to improve to 4-3 and will next be in action when it plays at Hun on October 9.

“She was very consistent on the first day; she was mentally tough. She came with a great attitude and brought her A-game with her.”

Headley is hoping that her team collectively will use the MCT as a springboard to develop its A-game.

“I felt that we would do better in the MCT as a team but we didn’t,” said Headley, whose team placed fourth of 18 schools in the MCT team standings.

“I think some of the girls had nerves. Now we are really getting into playing a lot of matches. We will have Sammy with us for almost all of them.”

Lieb, for her part, is looking forward to being there for PDS this fall and beyond.

“I love the girls on the tennis team,” said Lieb. “At first I was kind of worried that I might not fit in, that maybe they wouldn’t like me because I was playing No. 1 as a freshman. They have all been really nice to me; I’m looking forward to playing the next four years with them.”

And PDS is certainly looking forward to having Lieb around the next four years.

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