Pierson trying to duplicate run

MHS senior faces pressure of being state tennis seed

By: Justin Feil
   Matt Pierson stunned the state last year by reaching the state singles tournament quarterfinals.
   This year, the Montgomery High School senior has stunned himself, but he hopes to make up for a sub-par regular season in state singles play.
   "Without a doubt, this is what I’ve been looking forward to all season," Pierson said. "I play better in tournament setting than in match settings. It’s always been that way. I don’t know why. I’ve been playing tournaments a lot longer than in match settings.
   "I get a chance to get a little bit of credibility back. I’ve felt like I’ve gone down the tubes in that respect this year."
   Pierson played second singles last year for the Cougars, but when he reached the state singles tournament, he put together a run that made victims of two seeded opponents, each from highly respected programs at Moorestown and Newark Academy, before falling to the second-seeded player in the tournament. Things have been different this year for Pierson, who is playing first singles.
   "He’s not going to surprise anyone for sure," said MHS head coach John Arnold.
   Pierson opened the state tournament Saturday seeded alphabetically nine to 16. After a first-round bye, his second-round opponent, Chris Tortora of Seton Hall Prep, retired with Pierson ahead, 6-3, 3-0, in the second set. Sunday, Pierson was on serve at 5-6 when rains pushed the match back to today at Mercer County Park.
   "A high level of play every day is good," Arnold said. "Once he gets through the first couple rounds, hopefully he’ll be fine."
   Arnold worries, however, that Pierson is putting too much pressure on himself. Pierson, who was critical of his own play Sunday, is aware of the concern.
   "That’s always been one of my biggest problems," he said. "I always put a lot of pressure on myself. As a No. 2 last year, that was a nice thing. I felt no pressure last year. I came in as an unknown. I beat some good players.
   "I put a lot of expectations on myself. I’ve fallen short in my eyes. It makes it tough to play."
   A good state singles showing before he begins his college career at The College of New Jersey could make him forget some of his regular-season slip-ups. Pierson nearly didn’t qualify for the state tournament after some early-season losses had him on the brink of the 60 percent winning rate required.
   "We almost didn’t have enough matches," Pierson said. "I had lost two matches and it was close (to not making it). I had lost a match that I shouldn’t have lost, to a good player, but I should not have lost. That put my record in jeopardy.
   "It would have been very, very frustrating to not get in," he added. "In the last weeks, I’ve been working on hitting a lot of balls in play. It seemed to be working until (Sunday). I’ve been playing up and down."
   Pierson has found downs even in what many players would consider ups. Pierson is one of the few players in the state who can say he took a set off of Ridge’s George Laffey, who is the No. 3 seed for the state tournament. It was no consolation.
   "I felt it was a terrible year for me," Pierson said. "I have not played a single match where I felt like I played great. Every time I played Laffey, even when I got a set off him, I was missing a lot of balls and not keeping it in play.
   "The entire season, my serve, I would double fault games away and I’d get so frustrated from that, I’d tank. Half the losses were the result of bad serves and self destruction."
   Pierson has played tougher opponents in the regular season than he did last year. That fact alone should help him in the competitive state tournament. He would like to repeat his run of a year ago.
   "I was mentally prepared for last year," Pierson said. "Coming into it, I played a lot of tournaments. Last year I didn’t play amazing in a lot of my matches, but I had good wins against players when I needed to. And I played a lot last year with my dad after practice. I haven’t done that as much. The biggest thing is I haven’t been mentally tough. The matches I’ve lost, I’ve been careless. It’s been a very different type of year."
   Added Arnold: "I think he’s turning the pressure up on himself. It’s not working to his advantage. I’m trying to tell him that not every shot has to be a winner, you don’t have to serve 100,000 miles per hour. The pressure is there this year because he did well last year."
   Matt Pierson isn’t looking for an escape from that pressure. He just wants to duplicate his run of a year ago in state singles tournament play. It would erase a lot of this year’s frustration.