Delbarton clinches Non-Public A title

WEST WINDSOR – After struggling to start the season, the Delbarton tennis team started to turn things around at the right time.

The second-seeded Green Wave toppled top-seeded Don Bosco Prep 4-1 to win the NJSIAA Non-Public North A title, then battled to a 3-2 victory over Notre Dame to win its first Non-Public A title in three years on Wednesday at Mercer County Park.

“We have three freshmen starting, our third singles played second doubles last year and we have a transfer who missed half the season playing first singles, so we have a lot of youth, a lot of inexperience and a lot of kids who have never been in a situation like this, so for them to pull it out was really great to watch,” Delbarton coach John Thompson said. “A long time ago at the beginning of the season I’m not sure if we knew we were going to be in this position, but we kept fighting and trying to get better every day and they bought in to that and here we are in the Tournament of Champions, so we’ll take it.”

After wins at first and second singles by Justin Wang and Parker Pridgen, the first doubles pair of Cameron Ketchum and Billy Schroeder clinched the victory with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Notre Dame’s Mike Drahuschak and Sean Wenke.

“The first set was pretty difficult I think, all the matches ended up going three so we were kind of down on the first set, they were playing out of their minds, they were really, really playing well,” Ketchum said. “Then the second set we kind of got it together, they were still playing fantastic. In the third set I guess we really put it together and started taking more balls off at the net.”

Wang, who was playing in his first final at Mercer County Park, battled down from 3-2 to win the first set against Eric Biscoveanu 6-4, then won the second set 6-4.

“Eric’s just a great player, ever since I saw his serve in the warmup I knew it’d be really lethal ... it was a real fight,” Wang said. “I managed to win the first set, I was playing my best tennis ever and then Eric fell off a little bit and I was up and then he started to play really, really well and came back, it was a really tough match. I had a lot of game points, I couldn’t convert them, he had a lot of game points as well, so in the end it was just who wanted it more.”

Pridgen clinched the win at second singles with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory over Notre Dame’s Joey Sison to give Delbarton a 2-0 advantage. The second doubles pairing of Eric Hsieh and Joseph Spada lost their first set against Adam Brodowski and Ashwin Suvarna 6-1, then came back to win the second set 6-4 before falling in the third set 6-3.

When Hsieh and Spada pulled ahead 4-1 midway through their second set, that’s when Ketchum started to think that the Green Wave could pull off the victory.

“It kind of came when the second doubles team managed to come back from 4-1 in the second set and took it to a third set, which was huge for them,” he said. “Then we heard Justin and Parker had both played well in their matches, Rob (Steer) also took it to a third set, so at that point we felt we had a 50-50 shot.”

Steer fell at third singles to Daniel Fajardo 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, but the win at first doubles had already cemented the match in Delbarton’s favor.

“The one thing coach tells us to do every match is to give it our all, to go out there and compete,” Ketchum said. “At the beginning of the season we didn’t really do that, we had a lot of tough losses but we’ve kind of gotten it together in the last week or so.”

The victory earned Delbarton a berth in the Tournament of Champions, which begins Tuesday with the quarterfinals. The semifinals will be Wednesday and the final will be held Thursday, all at Mercer County Park.

“It feels amazing, it was a great, great win for the team,” Schroeder said. “We started slow but we were able to finish strong and get the win.”

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: 973-428-6674; lknego@gannettnj.com

NJSIAA Non-Public A Final

Delbarton 3, Notre Dame 2: Singles: Justin Wang (D) def. Eric Biscoveanu 6-4, 6-4; Parker Pridgen (D) def. Joey Sison 7-6 (7-5), 6-3; Daniel Fajardo (ND) def. Robert Steer 2-6, 6-2, 6-2; Doubles: Cameron Ketchum and Billy Schroeder (D) def. Mike Drahuschak and Sean Wenke 3-6, 6-4, 6-2; Adam Brodowski and Ashwin Suvarna (ND) def. Eric Hsieh and Joseph Spada 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Records: Delbarton 21-7, Notre Dame 15-5.