KRIS-CROSS: Princeton Day School girls’ tennis player Kristina Wang prepares to hit a backhand last week at the Mercer County Tournament. Sophomore Wang placed third at second singles in the event, helping PDS tie for sixth overall with Lawrence High in the team standings. In upcoming action, the Panthers have a match at WW/P-South on September 29 before starting play in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Non-Public A South sectional where it is seeded fourth and will host fifth-seeded Red Bank Catholic in a quarterfinal match on October 5. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
By Bill Alden
Coming into the Mercer County Tournament last week, the Princeton Day School girls’ tennis team wasn’t battle-tested.
Due to rainouts and the tournament being held earlier in September than in past years, PDS had only played two matches before hitting the courts at the Mercer County Park tennis complex.
The Panthers made up for some lost time, seeing plenty of action at the two-day event, highlighted by sophomore Kristina Wang placing third at second singles and the pair of Ashlyn Du and junior Sophie Zhang taking fourth at first doubles.
“I love playing as many matches as you can,” said PDS head coach Michael Augsberger, whose squad ended up tied for sixth overall with Lawrence High in the team standings at the event won by WW/P-South.
“We were at the U.S. Open on the first day, we went up as a team for a bonding experience. This reminds me of that, obviously on a smaller scale, with the excitement, everyone rooting for each other and being all over the grounds. They love it.”
Wang appears to have an exciting future at singles.
“She is such a grinder, she plays marathon matches,” said Augsberger of Wang, who posted a 6-2, 6-1 win over Hun’s Sabrina Wang in the third place match.
“She played three hours today and look how fresh she still looks. I am really proud of her.”
Augsberger was also proud of his first doubles pair of Du and Zhang.
“It is getting over the nerves in the first tournament and putting it together with limited time in the beginning of the season,” said Augsberger.
“I think consistency really stands out, they are tough to get the ball past. What we need to work on is finishing. I think that is across the board. The consistency is there, they will always stay in points that way but sometimes you need to be aggressive. In tennis, you can’t fall over the line to win, you have to run across the line.”
In Augsberger’s view, the experience at the MCT should help PDS produce a strong finish this fall.
“We have a lot of dual matches to get in and we are really looking forward to the state tournaments, we are in preps and this is our first time in the NJSIAA (New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association),” said Augsberger, whose team has a match at WW/P-South on September 29 before starting NJSIAA state competition where it is seeded fourth in the Non-Public A South sectional and will host fifth-seeded Red Bank Catholic in a quarterfinal match on October 5.
“We are really looking forward to that because we want to be tested against the best. This is a great example of it here.”