Experienced lineup helps PHS tennis start fast

Five of top seven return for Little Tigers

By: Justin Feil
   The Princeton High School girls’ tennis team got off to the sort of start expected with its entire singles lineup as well as two doubles players returning from last year’s Central Jersey Group III finalist squad.
   The Little Tigers opened the fall season with a 5-0 win over Hamilton on Wednesday.
   "It would be nice if all our matches would be this easy," said PHS head coach Sarah Heyman, whose team will play Trenton today.
   The third-year coach knows better, even with a veteran lineup back. Hamilton just happened to be the unlucky first victim of a team that returns five players from a 16-win season.
   "It’s tough," Heyman said. "They don’t have the years of experience and private lessons a lot of our girls do. I give them credit for going out there and being good sports while facing quite a battle. It’s hard to play someone you know has more experience.
   "It’s nice for us to have a match to ease into the season. I’m not sure how well it’ll indicate where we are this year."
   Those tougher indicator matches are coming quickly however. In a week, the defending Colonial Valley Conference Patriot Division champions will take on the defending CVC Valley Division champion West Windsor-Plainsboro North. The match will test two teams that return most of their lineup from last year.
   "Expectations are always high for us," Heyman said. "Even when we’ve lost players, even when we’re supposedly going to have a rebuilding year, everyone looks to us to be strong and have a winning season. Usually we are lucky to have our graduating seniors replaced by rising freshmen or other players. I hope there’s never a year we have nothing. That’s not very likely. We usually have talent. Some years, there’s stronger talent than others.
   "People’s expectations for us may be higher this year because we do have people returning. But we did suffer a big loss with first doubles. Doubles are a big key so we’ll have to see how to replace them."
   Julie Szymaniak and Anna Pang were past Mercer County Tournament champions in first doubles and a consistent winning combination for the Little Tigers. And though the pieces are still much the same this year, they are in a slightly different order. Only two players — Jennifer Yi at third singles and Liana Dorman at first doubles — played the same position against Hamilton that they did last year. The other three returning players were in new spots, and there are naturally a few questions about adjusting to the new flights and who feels most secure in their spots.
   "There are changes in the lineup and you want to count on all your players," Heyman said. "It’s nice when you can get all five points, not to be greedy. You definitely want to pick up the three.
   "While we rely on different flights to pick up the points, hopefully our singles can use their experience to pick up some points while our doubles teams are solidifying. I still think we should be able to count on our doubles for wins. I’m hoping we can count on them to come through when we need them."
   PHS returns Yi, Priya Joshi and Alex Willig to the singles lineup, while Dorman and Liz Haughton remain from last year’s doubles tandems. Dorman and newcomer Kasey Reisman did not lose a game in their first match together, while Haughton and Jayme Tobias were equally flawless at second doubles. Even with the changes in flights, there is plenty of familiarity on a team that still has just three seniors.
   "It’s nice for the girls to be able to count on their teammates," Heyman said. "Our girls especially have a good sense of camaraderie and friendship. It’s nice to know they’ve played with the same girls for a couple years. Since they were so young last year, they’ll have a couple years together. I think that helps them feel confident that the other players are there for them. Maybe if they can’t win, hopefully they can count on one of the other girls to pick up the slack in another flight.
   "There’s something to be said for people that know each other and have a good team bond playing together. Even though tennis isn’t as much of a team sport as soccer or field hockey, you can be a great player and if you don’t have a good team behind you, you won’t win. Even though it’s competitive for spots on our team, I think they have fun playing against each other."
   It’s other teams that may not have such an enjoyable playing the Little Tigers. PHS has the top of its lineup back and some new doubles combinations that have potential. It was tough to get even one game off them Wednesday. For a PHS girls’ tennis team with its usually high expectations, it was just a start to a promising season.