PDS’ Jacobi avenges MCT loss
By: Justin Feil
Princeton Day School’s Alexis Jacobi and Hun’s Angela DiPastina are good friends, good tennis players and budding rivals on the court.
They met for the first time in high school tennis two weeks ago in the Mercer County Tournament semifinals where DiPastina came from behind to win in three sets.
"I was a little disappointed," said Jacobi, who then defeated West Windsor-Plainsboro High North’s Christine Su in the consolation final. "It was a good match played by Angela. But I still came in third. I was disappointed, but it didn’t kill me. I got my revenge."
Last Friday, the sophomore defeated DiPastina at first singles in two sets, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 for one of the PDS flight victories in a 3-2 Panther win over the Mercer County champion Raiders in their regular season match. It capped a 3-0 week for Jacobi and PDS.
Alexis Jacobi is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
"It was a very big win for her," said PDS head coach Renny Shuster, whose team improved to 11-2 with a win over Purnell on Wednesday. "She was disappointed with how she played at the Mercer Counties. Her expectation was to make the finals. She definitely had a vested interest in the rematch."
Jacobi didn’t get off to the kind of start that she wanted, however, as she fell behind, 5-3, in the first set. She rallied to tie it, 5-5, before falling behind, 6-5. She faced set point twice because after she tied it up again, this time at 6-6, she fell behind 6-4 in the tiebreaker.
But Jacobi rallied to win the final four points, then cruised in the second set for a big win for the Panther team. The importance of her match was in the back of her mind the entire time.
"I knew it was going to be a really close match," said Jacobi, a Princeton resident. "I knew going into the match that it was going to be tough. I had a feeling that it might come down to me."
As usual, Jacobi came through as she has all season. She has lost only two matches. Her only other loss this year came against Germantown Academy, to a highly ranked under-18s player. Jacobi kept up her strong play last week with wins against George and Saddle River Day.
"She adds depth to our team," Shuster said. "We knew that everyone had to win their positions against Hun. She played very well. The first set, they were banging balls. Every game was close. You would not have been able to tell that the second set would end up like that if you saw the first set."
Jacobi completed her play first to give her team a quick lift, but she said that she might have played even better if hers was the deciding match.
"When it was 5-3, I said that if I lose this set, I can always come back and win it in the next two," she said. "I faced set point twice. It was good to win the first one."
The 15-year-old did so by being more aggressive this time against DiPastina. It was a point of emphasis this summer in lessons with Brad Werner and something she worked on during tournament play. It showed Friday.
"I picked up my game even more," she said. "I was playing more consistent and I was attacking her more. It just gave me a better outcome. I realized the mistakes and I was trying to correct those and be more consistent."
Jacobi improved to 15-2 this season with a win over Purnell on Wednesday. She’ll look to continue her strong year when the Panthers travel to Wardlaw-Hartridge 4 p.m. today.
"She’s a much stronger player this year," Shuster said. "She hits with more pace. She has a lot of versatility. She works very hard. She has a private coach and a strength and conditioning coach. You can see it’s paid off. You’re going to see some good things from her in the County in the next couple years."
Wednesday, she has another tournament on which to focus. PDS begins play in the Prep A tournament for just the second year ever. Last year, Jacobi made a strong showing, advancing all the way to the semifinals where she lost to Oak Knoll’s highly ranked Tory Zawacki.
Zawacki is gone now, but there are plenty of strong opponents that Jacobi could face. Including DiPastina in what could be a third meeting of the year. Call it a grudge match.
"We play a lot together," Jacobi said. "We usually go back and forth together. We’re really good friends.
"It was awesome that I won. I got revenge on her. It was a lot of fun."

