How Do You Keep The Ping Pong Ball Low?

There is somebody I know who I like to play ping pong against who also plays tennis. I do fairly well against him besides when the ball gets a high bounce (a foot or so off the table) in which case he almost always hits a perfect top spin smash near the back end of the table. How do I hit good low shots to avoid letting him or other people smash it or have a lot of room to spin it on me? Thanks.