By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The Princeton Day School girls tennis team has a new look this year, but the Panthers still have the same goals in mind.
After graduating three seniors from last year’s team, this year’s group of Panthers have some new players in the lineup as well as some returning players in new positions. But no matter who is on the court, PDS still approaches the season the same way. PDS tennis improved to 4-1 with a 4-1 win over the Hill School on Wednesday. The win was the fourth straight for the Panthers after opening the season with a loss to Moorestown Friends.
“We had three holes to fill,” PDS coach Ed Tseng said. “But luckily we had Grace (Marshall) come in as a freshman and we have a couple other girls who are in the mix and actually may be in the lineup potentially for preps later in the season.”
The Panthers have a new face at the top of the lineup as sophomore Sydney Vine moves from second singles to first singles. She evened her record at 2-2 with a win on Wednesday.
“She has been working hard and worked hard in the off-season,” Tseng said. “She is playing very well. She’s more mentally tough this year. She knew she would likely be moving up in the lineup, but she’s always worked hard. I am happy with the way she came into the season playing and we’re looking forward to a good season from her.”
Vine has been playing tennis for as long as she can remember and enjoys being part of the team experience with the Panthers.
“It’s a great team and you meet some great people and have a great time,” Vine said. “Even though tennis is an individual sport, being part of a team gives you that feel that is different. It was a little nerve-wracking for me at first last year to play with older upperclassmen. So it was hard for me to adjust at first to the people.
“It’s been pretty good. We lost some of our seniors, but I think I’m pretty comfortable playing first singles and as a team we’re doing well.”
The Panthers have Ahrya Jha at second singles and Touria Salvati has moved into the third singles slot. All three singles picked up wins against Hill, as did the doubles team of Giulia Gerschel and Emma Dries.
PDS came into the season having won four straight state Prep B titles and would like to make it five when the time comes at the end of the season.
“I think it is possible,” Tseng said. “Anything can happen but that is the goal. We’re lucky because we have a pretty deep middle school team to feed into the varsity. Our philosophy is we say we want to win, but effort is more important. When you have that effort, the wins usually take care of themselves.”
Next week, the Panthers will join the rest of the teams from Mercer County in the Mercer County Tournament. The tournament begins on Monday and concludes on Wednesday at Mercer County Park.
PDS last won the MCT in 2011. West Windsor-Plainsboro South is the defending champion.
“We have some goals as a team for the season,” Vine said. “We want to five-peat at preps. We also want to get far in the MCTs. I think we have a good team. It’s great having new singles players. I know Touria really wanted to play singles this year and she is a great singles player. And so is Ahrya, who played singles last year.”
The Panthers seem to have the right mix to be successful again this year. It’s something they have gotten used to no matter who is in the lineup.
