PHS duo had chances against state doubles tournament’s top seed
By: Justin Feil
When David Black watched four of his top players hit in the preseason, the Princeton High head coach knew he had something good on his hands.
"They were hitting volleys back and forth crisply," Black said, "I didn’t know who would be the doubles team (and who would be second and third singles), but I knew whoever was left would make a heck of a doubles team."
Ted Distler and Chad Maisel ended up coming out of the preseason as the first doubles team, and they’ve proven Black’s prediction correct. The two went unbeaten through the regular season, won their flight at the Mercer County Tournament, and didn’t lose a match until the Tournament of Champions, when they fell to Livingston’s Eric Udoff and Jayesh Patel.
The Little Tigers gained a chance at redemption by winning three straight matches to reach the state doubles tournament final, also against Udoff and Patel on Thursday.
And again, Livingston did something that no one else this season could — defeat Distler and Maisel, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2. The loss ends the Little Tigers’ season at 32-2.
"I knew they’d be one of the Top 5 teams in the state," Black said of his pairing which was 32-1 before facing Livingston Thursday. "Now they’re playing for No. 1."
Distler and Maisel were coming off their best match of the season, a 6-2, 6-0 win over Moorestown’s Wes Ho and Mike Lord in Wednesday’s state semifinals.
"It was over in 40 minutes," Black said. "It think it was their best match of the year. It was the cleanest game they played. They didn’t give anything away.
"They played a better game against Moorestown," he added. "But maybe Livingston had something to do with it. Against Moorestown, one good return was enough. Against Livingston, it came back and we had to return it again. We tried to overpower them then, and it was working for a little."
Distler and Maisel had competitive matches in the second round and quarterfinals as well. After dispatching of Hillsborough to open the tournament, the two faced Marlboro in the second round.
"They had beaten some of the ranked teams so it was a tough match," Black said. "They beat them, 6-4, in the third and then they had to play East Brunswick."
Despite a penalty for showing up late after the match was moved, Distler and Maisel took care of East Brunswick’s Ross Switkes and Ross Cohn in three sets, winning the last set, 6-1, to reach the semifinals.
"They’ve been finishing strong all year," Black said. "The last time they played Livingston, they were really making their shots. Now that we’re playing indoors, Chad’s had a better serve and there’s more speed on the surface so that helps."
Livingston’s Udoff and Patel beat 5-8 seed Millburn to reach the finals and remained unbeaten this season.