PHS season still going

Little Tiger’ boys’ tennis wins CJ III crown again

By: Bob Nuse
   SOUTH BRUNSWICK — In each of Chris Hoeland’s previous three seasons with the Princeton High boys’ tennis team, the season ended a little bit earlier than the year before.
   As a freshman, Hoeland was part of a team that captured the Group III state championship and advanced to the Tournament of Champions. As a sophomore, the Little Tigers reached the Group III state final before losing. A year ago, Princeton captured the Central Jersey Group III title, then lost in the Group III state semifinals.
   This year, despite having to replace several key players in the lineup, Hoeland did not want to see the season end earlier than it had a year ago.
   "We did not want to take another step backwards," said Hoeland, who picked up a win at first singles to help Princeton to a 3½-1½ win over Hopewell Valley in the CJ III final Tuesday at the Princeton Racquet Club. "We’re right where we were last year and hopefully we can go further. I wasn’t sure what to expect this year because we had lost some good players from last year. But the new guys that have come in have done a real good job, and the guys who have moved up have been real good."
   When the season started, Hoeland was the one given for the Little Tigers. After three years playing lower in the singles lineup, he has stepped in and been a near guaranteed win at first singles. After Hoeland, the lineup had question marks. In the singles lineup, those questions were answered by Graham Macdonald and Matt Ullman. And at doubles, newcomers have been getting the job done.
   "The players knew they could get this far, I knew they could get this far, even though I think a lot of people saw this as a rebuilding year for the team because so many players graduated from last year," said first-year PHS head coach Paul Lynch. "It’s hard to replace a kid like Ilia (Shatashvili). It’s hard to replace guys like that, but the kids worked hard. We had a strong senior class and a very strong freshman class. It bodes well even for the future at Princeton."
   The present isn’t too bad either at Princeton. Hoeland is joined by two other seniors, Macdonald and David Chen, who plays second doubles for the Little Tigers. Other than Hoeland, no one on Princeton’s roster came into the season with a full year of varsity experience. But that didn’t stop the Little Tigers from carrying on the winning tradition.
   "I don’t want to say that we exceeded expectations, but it is definitely great that we got this far," Hoeland said. "I don’t think anyone was real sure how we would do because we lost a lot of people. Losing Ilia, Nate (Abraham) and Brent (Willig), who did so much the last few years, that wasn’t easy. We lost seven people over the last two years, so that was rough.
   "Graham and Andrew Bergman had some experience in matches, so I wasn’t really worried about that. We were lucky to have David Zheng move here from Bridgewater."
   And Princeton came together in time to add yet another sectional title to its long list.
   Against Hopewell, Hoeland was a 6-2, 6-1 winner at first singles, while Ullman picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win at third singles. The Little Tigers clinched the match when Zheng and Yoshihiro Tachibana earned a 6-4, 7-5 win at first doubles. Chen and Bergman won their first set at second doubles before the match was halted due to time constraints.
   "A sectional championship is never a small thing," said Lynch, whose team improved to 16-6 with Tuesday’s win. "I know that Princeton has now won 28 of them, but for the team and the individuals that go through it, it’s an accomplishment. Hopewell has a terrific team with some real good players. And next year they’re back with almost everybody. So for us to get back to this point next year and challenge them will be tough."
   Princeton will begin another challenge today with a Group III semifinal match against Millburn. The match was postponed after the courts were too wet on Thursday. With a win, Princeton would face the winner of the other semifinals between Ramapo and Moorestown.
   "I would like to win another round or two if possible, just to do some damage in Group III," Hoeland said.
   Lynch had similar hopes the season could continue.
   "The way we look at it, every team we’ll see now is in the top 20 in the state," Lynch said. "But we’ve already played five matches against the top teams in the state, so it won’t be something we have not seen before. It’s a daunting group that we have to play."
   But no more daunting a challenge than Princeton faced coming into the season, having to replace a starter at nearly every spot in the lineup.
   "Our singles settled down right before the Mercer County Tournament," Lynch said. "Unfortunately, Aaron Maltby got hurt and went out of the lineup. But we were able to replace him. Graham Macdonald has been strong at No. 2. Matt Ullman has been extremely strong at No. 3. The doubles teams have really started to come together, especially the two freshmen at first doubles.
   "They weren’t together at the beginning of the season. But they both have power games. With them, it’s a lot of all or nothing. They’re very good players who both have bright futures."