Blazers defeated by Colonels

APRIL 19, MAGRUDER GYMNASIUM—

The Blazers knew they were going to have a difficult game today while playing Magruder, but they did not expect their chief opposition to be themselves. Blair (4-3) lost to Magruder 25-13, 19-25, 25-17, 20-25, 9-15.

Coach John Mott expected the Colonels to be a good match for the Blazers. "They have a better record than Quince Orchard and we barely beat QO," said Mott. His predictions were true and the sets went back and forth all match.

Co-captain Zack Koerper started the game with an ace, and the easy point incited energy throughout the team. Three minutes later, at 6-2, Mott switched out sophomore setter Christie Lin for freshman Julie Zhu, whose late arrival prevented her from being on the game's starting lineup. Blair won the last two points of the game with a successful tip by senior Eric Wu and a netted return by the Colonels.

Between sets, the Blazers lost their winning energy. Ten minutes into the set, Blair was down 7-13. The two problems the Blazers had were lack of communication and unorganized floor spacing. Because of their two problems, the Blazers got to the balls too late to make accurate passes to Zhu, who then was unable to hit solid sets. By the time Koerper made Blair's first successful block, Magruder had already made four blocks and was up 22-17.

In the third set, the Blazers realized their weaknesses, and the players called outs and possessions in unison. They won the set by a kill by Koerper while he was still in mid-court.

Blair lost the last two games mainly because of netted serves and badly placed passes. The team became frustrated in the last set because these two problem areas were once the team's strengths.

Another of Blair's strengths earlier in the season was to focus on sending the ball over the net in the right direction, not on spiking every possible ball. Blair has the shortest girls in the county, so the girls' offense is naturally hindered.

Coed volleyball's next match is against Wheaton on April 21 at 5:15 p.m.