Princeton High Girls Tennis off to 4-0 Start

With a 4-0 start to the regular season, Princeton High girls tennis was hard to ignore when it came time to seed for the Mercer County Tournament.

"We were hoping to do well this year," Princeton Coach Sarah Hibbert said. "There are a lot of good teams out there. You never know for sure what will happen."

Princeton got high seeds in four of the five brackets in the MCT, which will begin on Monday morning, Sept. 19. The semifinals and finals will be held on Wedensday. All matches will be held at Mercer County Park.

"There are a lot of top players and teams this year," Hibbert said. "Peddie joined the tournament for the first time in a long time. Princeton Day School is tough. Hightstown has that talented freshman. West Windsor North and South are always good. Hopewell is tough. It's one of the most open fields I've seen."

But Princeton could have a major impact on the event.

Princeton's Sarah Cen, a senior, is the third seed in the MCT at first singles. Cen was third last year, but she has to face a field that includes Princeton Day School's Samantha Asch, the returning champion.

Cen, off to a 5-0 start in the regular season, already has recorded impressive wins in Princeton's victories against Hopewell (3-2 on Sept. 9) and Hightstown (5-0 on Sept. 14). Princeton's other wins were 5-0 against Allentown and Notre Dame.

Cen defeated Hopewell's Natalie Kowalec, 6-2, 4-6, 6-0. Cen defeated Hightstown's Sneha Rangu, 7-6 (7-4). Rangu retired after the first set.

Keely Herring, a senior, is 4-0 in the regular season.

"She was second in the MCT last year and is seeded second this year as well, (at second singles)" Hibbert said.

Alyssa Taylor, a senior, competes at third singles. She is not seeded in the MCT.

Princeton's second doubles team of Vinita Su and Lena Sun are 4-0 on the season. These two girls grabbed the top seed in their bracket.

Maddie Cahill-Sanidas and Helena Ord are the third seed at first doubles.

"There are just a lot of talented players out there," Hibbert said. "It should make for a very exciting tournament."