DOUBLES GAME: Ashna Bushan, Princeton High’s leading girls’ tennis doubles player, volleys last week at the Mercer County tournament as her partner Maya-Alexandra Todorov looks on. The pair won MCT’s first doubles title, edging Lawrenceville School’s Sienna Kulynych and Grace Weekes 6-0, 6-1 in the final last Wednesday at the Mercer County Park Tennis Facility. Their triumph moved PHS into fourth place in the team standings at the event. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
By Bill Alden
When it all ended last Wednesday afternoon, Maya-Alexandra Todorov and Ashna Bushan embraced on Court 8 at the Mercer County Park Tennis Facility.
Both men were celebrating their victory in the first doubles final of the Mercer County tournament. True to their ranking, the top-seeded team of Todorov and Bushan cruised through the competition, winning each match in straight sets.
In the final, they dominated Lawrenceville School’s Sienna Kulynych and Grace Weekes 6-0, 6-1, dominating the match with their combination of superb net play and solid groundstrokes.
Their title moved PHS into fourth place in the team standings in the event won by the Lawrenceville school.
Junior Todorov was proud of the way both men played on their way to the draw.
“Honestly we did our best, all the teams were really strong,” Todorov said. “We just tried to keep our momentum going.”
In the final, they briefly lost momentum, losing the first game of the second set but quickly regrouped.
“We struggled at the start of the second set, but then everything went well,” Todorov said.
Bushan, a sophomore, felt the two men were going to seal the deal.
“We didn’t want to get too confident, so we went into the second set and tried to keep going,” Bushan said.
For Todorov, who won the first MCT doubles title last year with Ashley Chen, winning a second straight crown was special.
“It means so much to me because last year it was with Ashley and this year it was with Ashna,” Todorov said. “It’s great to be here. I think we expected to play together this year. We are very good friends on and off the field.
Reflecting on his partnership with Bushan, Todorov believes their skills complement each other.
“I feel like playing at the net is my strength and Ashna is pretty solid from the baseline, so I think it’s a pretty good combination,” Todorov added.
Bushan, for her part, was delighted to win her first county crown. “I finished second in doubles with Sophie (Miller) and we finished third,” Bushan said.
“It’s really exciting to play with one of my best friends this year and win my first counties.”
The couple quickly came together when they became a team this summer after their previous partners graduated.
“We were pretty good from the start,” Bushan said. “We are a powerful team, we are good together.”
PHS head coach Sarah Hibbert felt the duo of Todorov and Bushan would be great.
“I knew they had the potential to be a very strong team,” Hibbert said, noting that PHS has developed a stranglehold on the top flight doubles at MCT, having won the title at least five years in a row. “Maya won it last year at first doubles and Ashna was good at second doubles; they both had a great season last year with different partners and their partners graduated. It felt like a natural association. They are also both very good singles players.
The couple’s strengths match well. “Maya is a natural volleyball player; she has very good hands and very good size and you can’t teach that,” Hibbert said. “She has a natural desire to poach, she knows where she needs to be and she knows where to place the ball. Ashna has very solid groundstrokes, so she sets up Maya very well. She also has good serves – she has worked very hard on her game this year.
At second doubles, senior Scarlett Cai and freshman Sophia Bruhn produced a spirited run to the final, edging top seeds Anusha Kumar and Odette Liu of WW/P-North 7-6, 6-4 in the semis. -final in front of third seed Charlotte Aitken. -Davies and Emily Lee of Lawrenceville beat them 6-1, 6-4 in the final.
“They were a little disappointed with the result in the final but they exceeded everything that was expected of them,” Hibbert said. “They didn’t have a seed because they hadn’t had a chance to prove themselves yet. Being a freshman and a senior, it’s a new team. They really came together today. They knew they lost a close one to North on Friday. Scarlett had rolled her ankle in that match and was unable to play against her. It’s a new day, a new situation. They started strong then lost several games in a row. They came back and went to the tiebreak in the third set of the semifinal and won it against the No. 1 seed. It was a huge match for them.
In the final, Cai and Bruhn fought hard before succumbing to Aitken-Davies and Lee.
“The Lawrenceville team was a very strong team and had a very strong game all around,” Hibbert said. “They came up against a tough team in the final. They knocked out a top seed in the first round and a top seed in the semifinals. It’s really exciting for them, it’s a great performance.
Sophomore Katie Qin had a strong performance at third singles, winning the consolation final.
“Katie had a really tough job, she had to play a lot of tennis,” Hibbert said. “She had an unseeded player who maybe should have been seeded and fighting throughout that match. She won the consolation draw, comprising five matches in two days. It’s a lot of tennis, a mix of best of three sets and professional sets. Unfortunately, given the way the rankings went, she had a very difficult draw but she played well.
The team’s other singles players, junior Lada Labas at second and freshman Phoebe Decker at first, gained valuable experience.
“Lada had to play a round of 16, then she had to play against the fifth seed; she played a great match there and won it in the third set in a tiebreak,” Hibbert said of Labas who lost 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals to third top seed Vanessa Kudelya of WW/P-South.
“Then she had to face the third seed in her third match of the day. She lost a very close one there where she fought very hard. Phoebe had a good first round and came up against a tough top seed. It was competitive.
Looking ahead, Hibbert believes competing hard in the MCT will help his players when they enter the state tournament.
“The girls all fought to the best of their abilities, we had some really competitive matches and played some good tennis,” said Hibbert, whose team advanced to the New Jersey Group 3 final. State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) last year. “I hope this helps them since it was so early this year.” The reports arrive in two weeks. It was a competitive tournament – it was a lot of tennis in two days.
Todorov, for her part, is ready to continue competing. “We are confident that we will achieve this in the states,” Todorov said. “We will work together and do our best.”
