Panther seniors go out on top
By: Justin Feil
The season may not have begun quite as well as the Princeton Day School boys’ tennis team expected, but it certainly ended in fine fashion.
For the second straight year, the Panthers won the Prep B state championship. David Holland was victorious at first singles, Seth Stein won at third singles and Sanjeev Sharma and Pat Murphy won at first doubles to lead PDS to an 11-10 advantage over second-place Montclair Kimberley Academy on Wednesday.
"It definitely capped off on a good note," said Stein, one of two seniors along with Sharma. "It started slow. When Bo (Marshall) was out, I had to play 2. I didn’t get to play much this year because of school demands. I started off slowly. Once I got past the hump, it was the difference maker. We were losing, 3-2, before and once I started winning, we started winning more. It was a good comeback to the season."
Stein was the hero last year in the Panthers’ first state crown since 1999 when he pulled out a three-set win. This time, he wrapped up PDS’ repeat title with a straight-set win but made it exciting with a 7-5 second set in which he won the final two games over MKA’s Corey Brown.
"I was having trouble the whole match getting a rhythm," said Stein, who won his second straight third-singles title. "My opponent, he took a lot of time between points. I’d hit a good winner and then I’ve have to wait another two minutes for him to serve the ball. Everybody watching at end put more pressure on me too and I usually thrive on that. In this case, it wasn’t helping me at all. I was up, 4-1, and I started making a lot of unforced errors.
"I just calmed myself down. I talked to my coach. I told myself to breathe, and I guess I came out in those last two games and won the set. I did not want to go three sets. I was happy at the end. I was happy mainly that our team won."
The Panthers needed wins at all three flights that reached the finals as MKA had four flights reach the finals. Had any of them not won, it would have opened the door for MKA, either to tie or to win.
Holland, who was runner-up last year at first singles, closed out an impressive unbeaten season with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Dan Turtel of Ranney. Holland did not lose a set this year. Sharma and Murphy were dominant as well with a 6-4, 6-1 win over MKA’s Bob Post and Andrew Bauer.
"I was very confident naturally with David who faced Dan Turtel from Ranney who he had beaten handily before," said PDS head coach Rome Campbell. "At first doubles, Pat Murphy and Sanjeev have had a tremendous season. They’ve been playing very strong as of late. I felt confident in their skills. They had a good practice yesterday, particularly with Sanjeev. We felt we were in a very strong position. They did well in the second set and took off.
"I think we felt more confident going in with the experience," he added. "We had four players who had Prep B final experience in the match. Both Coach (Will) Asch and I realized that was going to be a big advantage for us. We knew one kid was an underclassmen for MKA. We knew our seniors would have edge in the match."
For Sharma and Stein, it was a fine conclusion to their careers. Neither had enjoyed nearly as much success as freshman and sophomores, but they ended on a good note.
"We had our mindset on winning the Prep B tournament since the year started," Sharma said. "We had trouble early in the year with some tough games. Me and my partner stuck together. We played some real good tennis coming down the last stretch of the year. I think we were 7-1 in our last eight. We really played well. We usually have trouble closing out sets. We did well this tournament.
"It’s just as sweet (as last year)," he noted. "Being a senior, I really wanted to win it, go out with a bang, and leave my legacy as a PDS tennis player."
Sharma has had a different playing partner for each of his tennis season, going all the way back to seventh grade. Last year, he was paired with Marshall when they won the first doubles crown. This year, he and Murphy came around at the right time.
"We knew that that pressure was there," Sharma said. "Me and my partner Murphy wanted to go out and play our game and control the points. You’ll never see me and Murphy lob the ball. We attack it. That’s how we won it. We played our match, not their match."
It was all the more critical because it was a head-to-head matchup with MKA. PDS received some help at second singles when Bobby Reiss beat his MKA opponent in the finals. The Panthers did the rest when Stein and their first doubles teams beat their main competition as well. MKA won only the second doubles flight.
"We did have to win those," said Stein, who will continue his career at the University of Rochester. "I wasn’t thinking of it like that. I was focused on my match. The result was all three winning which got us the team victory.
"It was a lot more pressure than last year, especially to repeat. Nothing was expected of us last year. When you’re defending champs, there’s pressure to hold your title."
PDS came very close to putting all five flights in the finals. The Panthers’ two flights to not make the finals were competitive to the end.
"It was a good team win," Campbell said. "Our two freshmen didn’t get into the finals. They lost, 5-7, 5-7, the previous Sunday. I think they realized how close they were to getting into the finals. Bo Marshall lost to the eventual winner Bobby Reiss in three. So Marshall was in the hunt as well. He pushed Bobby Reiss to three sets and Reiss won very easily in the final."
Marshall and the freshmen will be back for another chance at a flight win. PDS loses just Stein and Sharma from this year’s state tournament team. With some talented players on the perch, the Panthers are expecting to continue the winning next season as well.
"Our program is going to be better than last year," Sharma said. "There are two eighth graders that are amazing. It looks like our team will be pretty solid. I’m happy PDS finally got it together with its tennis program. It looks like we’ll be winning the championship for a couple years to come."