Hun, PDS each have finalist in Prep A tennis
By: Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Kai Boulware and Nithya Mathews did not begin the season together, but they ended it in perfect fashion.
The Stuart Country Day School pairing captured the first doubles flight at the Prep B state tournament on Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Rutgers Prep.
”I think this is the perfect way to end my season and my tennis career at Stuart,” said Mathews, a senior. “It’s really good for Kai. She’s just a freshman. She’s going to be so successful.”
Boulware began the year at second doubles, but when the Tartans’ lineup was shuffled she moved up to join Mathews at first doubles. The combo went 7-6.
”I think this is the perfect way to start,” Boulware said. “I came into the season thinking I wanted to play singles. I wasn’t very open-minded to playing doubles. At first, I had a different partner and we didn’t play well together. Then I saw Nithya and I played well together and I was more open to it.
”I think we both have different types of skills,” she added. “I think I am the power part of the team and she’s more of the consistent part. I think we complement each other and communicate well with one another.”
Boulware and Mathews formed the lone flight to win for the Tartans, who lost all three singles flights in the finals to fall a point shy of the team title. Gill St. Bernards won their second straight title.
”This is a very resilient group,” said Stuart head coach Dede Webster. “We hadn’t come head to head with Gill so we didn’t know what we were up against. It went right down to the wire. They were very mature about it. I thought we had a great season.”
In Prep A finals action, Lawrenceville swept the five flights. At first singles, West Windsor resident Emma Levy defeated Hun’s Kara Shoemaker in straight sets. Shoemaker, who reached the finals when Princeton Day School’s Samantha Lieb injury-defaulted with Shoemaker leading in their semifinal match, was the only Raiders player to play Tuesday.
”She played her hardest. Emma is just so good,” said Hun head coach Joan Nuse, whose team wraps up its season today against Hill. “She’s had a great season. To make the jump from third singles and make the finals of both counties and states is great. I’m really proud of her. She’s done a nice job.
”Both Emma and Sammy are back next year,” she added. “That’s kind of a tough situation to be in with all of them being so young. But high quality tennis is definitely good for the area.”
Shoemaker helped her team finish in a tie with PDS and Oak Knoll. The Panthers also had one flight reach the finals, where Elena Bowen and Samantha Schaeffer lost to Montgomery resident Rina Matsumoto and Betsy Eder-Shile in straight sets.
”The points went on and on and on and on,” said PDS head coach Patty Headley. “We just couldn’t close them out. Lawrenceville was able to end the points. That’s the big difference.”
The Panthers duo concluded a season in which the PDS team went 11-4. Bowen and Schaeffer were a big part of the Panthers’ success.
”They never played together before,” Headley said. “One’s a freshman and one’s a junior. Their playing styles gelled. They’re both tall. That never hurts. They have a similar game. They’re very even tempered and don’t get flustered. Their personalities really blend. It’s a really good match. They’ve had a great season.”
Since both will return, they have the chance to pair up again next year and go for a gold-medal finish. With Mathews graduating along with first singles’ Kelsey Semrod, Boulware will be looking to move up into the singles lineup. She is more comfortable in singles play.
”I think the toughest part about it is when you’re playing singles you can correct your errors more easily,” Boulware said. “You can see what adjustments you need to make for yourself. When you’re playing with another person, it’s hard to communicate with them firmly but nicely.
”We weren’t too hard on each other when we made errors. We got over our error and were able to make the adjustment. With my other partner, I wasn’t able to do that.”
It was Boulware’s first year on a tennis team. She didn’t play for the Stuart Middle School team, but enjoyed plenty of success in her first year with the Tartans. For Mathews, it was an ideal way to go out.
”We’ve had a really good season,” said the Princeton resident, who hopes to continue playing at some level in college. “We’ve grown a lot this season. We went in trying to be confident. I don’t know if we expected to get first. We definitely wanted to do well.”
The Stuart combination was the No. 4 seed, but they defeated top-seeded Gill in the semifinals before stopping Rutgers Prep on Monday.
”I think we thought of Gill as our biggest competition since they won last year,” Mathews said. “I know the team in general won the whole championship. We were a little nervous. Once we won, we were confident.
”We played the semifinals against Gill and lost the first set, 6-0, but we brainstormed how to win and played it smart the second and third set. We did come back. That was a great victory for us. I think that was one of our best victories of the season.”