Hightstown Boys Tennis Places 9th in Mercer County Tournament

While all of the members managed at least one win in the event, the boys tennis team has placed ninth out of the 17 teams competing in the Mercer County Tournament, held over several days last week.

Vinit Palayekar (first singles), Rohit Palayekar (second singles) and Eric Trast (third singles) all managed to win matches before being eliminated by seeded players.

At first doubles, Dhruv Sachdeva and Soham Rege lost their first match. The pair then fought back with a win in the consolation round. Zack Shuler and Ajani Crosley also were defeated in the first round before fighting back with another win in the consolation round.

"They only went up to four seeds for the tournament," Hightstown Coach Bob Howland noted. "After they put the four seeds in the bracket, it was up to the luck of the draw. You just have to take what you get."

The limited seeding is one of the main reasons why the players compete in the consolation round.

"I think they should seed more, but that's the way they do things," Howland said. "I think it's dangerous because a seeded player can also get someone really tough."

Hightstown certainly has players capable of stepping up and throwing a scare into the best players and teams in the county. According to Howland, his squad just isn't quite as sharp as it was last season.

With a 3-2 loss to Notre Dame on Monday, Hightstown is now 4-3. The team also lost a 5-0 decision to a very talented Hopewell team on Friday. Hightstown's other loss was to Robbinsville earlier in the season.

"We have a strong team," Howland said. "We have three strong singles players."

While the doubles teams aren't quite as experienced as the singles players, they are also very good.

"You look at the Hopewell match and we had several strong first sets that we didn't win," Howland said. "If you win that first set, it's a good indication you'll win the match.

"For whatever reason, it's just not happening for us this year like it did last season."

Fortunately for Hightstown, it still has time to turn this season around. It will play West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional High School North on today, Tuesday, Trenton on on Wednesday and Princeton on Thursday.