Blazers lose critical game to Quince Orchard

The girl's tennis team suffered its closest and most emotional defeat of the season today. The protracted game was decided by one dramatic match after another, and though the Blazers came agonizingly near to victory, Quince Orchard triumphed.

Five fairly quick matches put Quince Orchard ahead 3-2. First single Stephanie Paul was defeated 0-6, 6-0, but fourth single Pearl Horng won 6-2, 6-2. The most surprising Blair defeat was that of second single player Valerie Shen, who sprained her ankle and was forced to concede her match in the second set.

"That's really not good news," said Blair coach Mr. Ngbea. "Luckily there's no swelling. I hope she'll be up by Thursday, but if she's not I hope it rains that day."

Second doubles Emily Tsui and Janice No were beaten 2-6, 3-6, but third doubles Dominique Francin and Jahnavi Bhaskar pulled off a solid 6-1, 6-1 victory.

At this point, Quince Orchard had a 3-2 lead over Blair, with the first doubles and third single matches still being played. The Blazers needed to win both of these matches to win this important divisional game.

The matches wore on and player's nerves frayed. Twice, Quince Orchard's first doubles team complained against Blair first doubles Seema Kacker and Katherine Epstein, even requesting a line judge to settle their disputes. But Kacker and Epstein managed to pull off a 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 game, soundly trouncing the opposition.

That victory left the game tied 3-3, placing a lot of pressure on third single player Aditi Bhaskar. Her dramatic match stretched on for an agonizingly suspenseful three hours. Bhaskar played extremely consistently, gracefully volleying back and forth, often for more than a minute. However, she was eventually defeated 7-6 (tiebreaker), 7-5, 4-6.

The team was disappointed over such a close loss in a crucial divisional game, but the Blazers remain optimistic. "The team has improved from our earlier losses,but we're still making mistakes, and we need to get better fast," said team member Morgan Luker.