High School South’s tennis season has turned out better than expected, much better. Heading into the season, the team lost five of its top eight players, but has managed, yet again, to capture the Mercer County Tournament title.##M:[more]##
In addition to losing key players last season, the team didn’t get any number one seeds heading into the tournament, which was ripe with solid competitors who returned many of their stars, and the Pirates hadn’t had much playing time against other teams, with a slew of cancellations and postponements. But for the fifth year in a row, both doubles teams took first place. And none of the Pirates left empty-handed, coach Jim Giovacchini points out.
“I was very pleased,” Giovacchini said. “The singles players did about as good as they could do. Our number one got to the final and put up a good fight against an outstanding player,” he said referring to Leland Richardson, who took home a second-place medal. Second singles player Junjiro Mori lost in a three-setter, and Julian Richardson — Leland’s brother — lost two close sets in the semifinal match. Both won third place medals.
But with first place finishes by Demetri Vhranos and Daniel Ng in first doubles and Ronak Patel and Zachary Halperin in second, the team garnered 32 points, placing ahead of Princeton Day School and Princeton. “No other team medaled every position, and the depth of our team was too much for PDS to overcome,” Giovacchini said. “They have three outstanding singles players. Each won their flights again, but our depth was too much for them to overcome.”
Winning five in a row is not easy, he says. “A lot of people have contributed to those five titles,” Giovacchini says. “The newcomers weren’t overwhelmed by the occasion. They played well, and everyone contributed.”
“This win was almost as good as the first one,” he added. “The last couple of years, I kind of expected it, but this year was interesting.”
Giovacchini says winning the county tournament was one of the team’s biggest goals for the season. “It was our first real test,” he said. “We passed this one with flying colors. Obviously we are looking toward the states — the team states first, and the individuals later.”
The Pirates continued their success on April 29, after defeating North, 5-0, and then, Notre Dame, on April 30, to improve to 10-0.
North, however, is still going strong, with a record of 9-2, and coach Albert Paulsson says he is proud of the Knights’ fourth place finish at the county tournament. He said he is hoping to get the momentum going as the team prepares for the upcoming state tournaments. He hopes that upcoming matches against tough PDS and Hopewell will lead to some of the team’s best performances of the season.
