Blazers outclass Gladiators

APR. 14, BLAZER TENNIS COURTS—

The Blair boys' tennis team followed up their long-awaited victory over Wootton with an easy 7-0 win against Northwood, improving their record to 6-1.

Of Northwood's seven team members, only four came to the match, forcing them to automatically forfeit three of the seven matches to be played. Blair too was missing starters - with the absence of third singles player senior Eric Su and fourth singles player junior Michael Hsu, Coach David Ngbea chose alternates freshman Jason Albanese and sophomore Chris Hsing to fill in.

At first singles, senior Hailiu Yang dictated play and kept his opponent on the run to easily win 6-0 6-1. Second singles player senior Jordan Fein was also never threatened by his opponent and showed an impressive array of strong serves and groundstrokes, winning 6-0 6-0. Hsing, playing fourth singles, was similarly untroubled, breezing to a 6-1 6-1 win.

Albanese, filling in for Su, was the only player to have some difficulty in his 6-4 6-1 win. Albanese said that though he was evenly matched with his opponent, his superior fitness and shot selection kept his opponent running from side to side and off-balance. The experience, Albanese believes, will help him gain useful match experience. "Usually I don't get to play anyone from another school in a match that actually counts," he said.

With another win in hand, Blair must now take its best game to their next match against Whitman.

Blair's next home match is against Sherwood on April 23 at 3:30 p.m.