North looks for first-ever win vs. South in state tourney

Improved Jenq gives Knights a better chance

By: Justin Feil
   Playing West Windsor-Plainsboro South is something that the West Windsor-Plainsboro North boys’ tennis team has been looking forward to since the season began. But with bad weather, the match has twice been postponed.
   The waiting is over as the Knights will finally have their chance after beating Monmouth Regional, 5-0, in the first round of the Central Jersey Group III tournament Saturday. They will play at WW-PS 3:45 p.m. today in the CJ III quarterfinals.
   "Playing South in states, it’s even more important for us to play our best game," said WW-PN’s Wayne Jenq. "It’s probably our most important match of the season."
   Jenq is looking forward to a first-ever meeting with Eugene Vaynberg at first singles. It’s a match of two of the most-improved players in the area. Vaynberg played second singles before moving ahead of Benny Gordon-Goldstein this year.
   Jenq made an even bigger leap. He started last year at first doubles, and only because of injury did he move to third singles, where he made quite a showing by reaching the Mercer County Tournament finals.
   "People started to notice that I was pretty good when I went to the finals," said Jenq, who is a sophomore. He didn’t let that move be his last.
   "This year, in the preseason, he just caught fire," said WW-PN head coach Albert Paulsson. "He won all his challenge matches. He’s been solid all year for us. It’ll be a nice battle."
   Jenq credits not a hot preseason, but the work he did before it for his geyser-like rise.
   "After last year, I played a lot of tournaments," Jenq said. "Over the winter, I played three times a week and took a lot of lessons. I tried to improve my tennis skills in the offseason. I put a lot more effort into enhancing my tennis than the year before so I could play singles."
   It didn’t hurt that he also hit with current second singles Kevin Tsay and third singles Brian Wong, and found their weaknesses. It’s something that few teams have yet to find as the Knights ran their record to 11-1 with Saturday’s win over Monmouth. Their only loss came at CJ III top seed Princeton.
   "Right now this is our best season up to this point," Paulsson said of the third-year program. "It’s a better team than it’s been. They’re using the experience of the previous two seasons. They’ve won some important matches this year. They’re as prepared as they can be."
   That gives the sixth-seeded Knights a better shot of upsetting third-seeded South. But, no one expects an easy time of it.
   "It’s always a great match," said Paulsson, whose squad lost, 4-1, to South last year in the first match of the season. "Our players are always very psyched to play, they’re very motivated. I expect it to be a competitive match. It’s the kind of match you look forward to all season. It’s the second time it’s been moved and it’s been building in anticipation."
   The two teams still have to complete their regular Colonial Valley Conference match, but today’s state tournament game has bigger implications as North trails Princeton High in the Valley Division and unbeaten South heads the Colonial Division.
   "I’m looking forward to it," Jenq said. "I know most of the guys. I think it will be close. I look forward to it."
   Jenq, who has just three losses this season individually, is playing as well as he has at any point in the season. Compared to how he began, it’s not even close, but that can be expected after moving from third to first singles.
   "It was a lot different," Jenq said. "I felt a lot of pressure in the first two matches. I almost had to push (the ball). I was too afraid to really hit it. My game started to develop as the season went along.
   "I’ve played pretty well recently. In the beginning of the season, I wasn’t pleased with how I was playing. I lost to Hopewell, and I think I could have won that. Right now, I’m playing my best tennis."
   There’s no better time for a coach to hear that from his first-singles player.
   "Wayne has a very strong baseline game," he said. "His serve is consistent and I think he moves well and can close out points pretty quickly. And his maturity has developed a lot this year, which has helped."
   Jenq gave up a commitment to basketball for the chance to develop his tennis skills, and he’s become a real student of the sport. It paid off when he ascended to first singles for the Knights, and he was hoping for a chance to study the Pirates a little closer than as an outsider at counties. Tsay is the only North player to have faced a South opponent, Gordon-Goldstein, this year, and he kept it close before falling, 6-4, 7-5. Jenq wishes he had had that chance.
   "I’d rather play them before states so we can know what to expect," Jenq said. "We know they’re a really good team. If we played them before, we’d know each player’s weakness."
   But South would also know how much Wayne Jenq and the Knights have improved as well. That’s a little secret they can keep until today.
   "This year, our team has a better shot than last year," Jenq said. "All of our players improved in the offseason. I think we have a chance against them."