Princeton boys tennis tops La Salle-Peru on Cavaliers’ senior night

LA SALLE – The Princeton boys tennis squad came to the blustery La Salle-Peru Sports Complex and left with a 4-1 victory on the Cavaliers’ senior night.

“This was an awesome win for us tonight,” Princeton coach Connie Lind said. “Our whole team played well. Our doubles teams came through, and Tyson [Phillips] has played well all season as our No. 1 singles. This kind of a win gives us a confidence boost as we head into the final portion of the season.

“It is tough out there. You often deal with the wind, but when it is cold like this you lose feeling and touch in your hands. It makes it more difficult to play.”

At No. 1 singles, Princeton’s Tyson Phillips used a solid service game to defeat L-P’s Joe Pohar, normally a doubles specialist, in a tight match, 7-5, 6-2, to get the Tigers their first point on the board.

“Tyson is a real good player, and he spins his serves and shots well, and that is what Andrew [Bollis] and I are going to see if we are going to make a run in the postseason,” Pohar said. “It has really been a fun and rewarding experiences playing tennis. I never played until I was a freshman, then lost my sophomore season to COVID and played only singles last year until teaming up with Andrew this year. We will get back together and play Mendota next, and I think we will have a good chance of advancing when we get to sectionals. Tonight, playing individual matches will definitely help us sharpen our games.”

At No. 2 singles, Bollis grabbed the Cavs’ only point of the night with an impressive effort, defeating Nolan Mallory, 6-2, 6-0.

Princeton’s No. 1 doubles team of Jackson Dressler and Reid Orwig defeated Traeger Abens and Ethan Picco in an entertaining match, winning a tiebreaker in the first game and 7-5 in the clincher to give Princeton a 2-1 advantage.

“We put Traeger and Ethan as our No. 1 doubles team hoping they could get a win and improve their seeding for sectionals, but we fell a little short there,” L-P coach Aaron Guenther said.

At No. 2 doubles, Princeton’s Matt Sims and Niklas Schnieder beat Luke Buck and Elijah Arthurs in three sets to claim Princeton’s third victory.

The Tigers also took the No. 3 doubles match as Ben Anderson and Josh Orwig knocked off Alex Lucero and Noah Sherman, 6-4, 6-0.

Before the match, the Cavs honored their seven seniors Abens, Arthurs, Buck, Lucero, Pohar, Sherman and Bakr.

“We wanted to get all of our seniors a chance to play, so we juggled the lineup and we broke up our No. 1 doubles team and had Joe [Pohar] playing No. 1 singles and Andrew [Bollis] play No. 2 singles to get them a different look and get them prepared for tougher competition down the road.

“This is a special group of seniors. They are a tightknit bunch and really cheer each other on. They have all worked hard and improved. We are looking for big things for them as we move along.”