Bulldogs hound Blazers

OCT. 6, BLAZER COURTS—

The Churchill Bulldogs dismantled the Blair girls' tennis team today 7-0 and dropped the Blazers record to 5-4 on the year. Churchill, the defending state champions and holders of an undefeated record, breezed by an overmatched Blair squad in under two hours.

The Blazers, just two days removed from a heartbreaking divisional loss to Quince Orchard, quickly lost their first six matches. Typically stellar first singles player, junior Stephanie Paul, offered little resistance to Churchill standout junior Maggie Makeever. Makeever, the second ranked player in the entire Mid-Atlantic region, overpowered Paul 6-0, 6-0. Makeever mixed a scorching serve with impeccable accuracy on her ground strokes to dominate throughout the match.

Junior Janice No playing fourth singles fell soon after 6-0, 6-0 and was followed by second singles player junior Pearl Horng, who was defeated handily 6-1, 6-0. Other lopsided matches included senior Seema Kacker losing 6-0, 6-1 at third singles, the second doubles team of juniors Margot Pass and Sarah Wolk falling 6-2, 6-1, and junior Kiran Belani and senior Tiffany Change losing 6-2, 6-2 at third doubles.

The most competitive match of the day came in first doubles, where juniors Jahnavi Bhaskar and Dominique Franson fought hard in a losing effort. Despite losing the first set 6-4, Bhaskar and Franson seemed to have the momentum after jumping to a 5-2 lead in the second set. During their second-set run Bhaskar and Franson employed a number of well-placed deep shots to cause unforced errors by their opponents. However, the duo could not get the final game needed to win the set, ultimately losing a 7-5 nail biter.

Coach David Ngbea knew coming into today that the match would be an extremely difficult one, but he was proud of his team's effort despite the result. "They were fighting for it, and they were working very hard," said Ngbea.

The team's next match is October 7 at Walter Johnson. The final home match of the year is Monday October 11 at 3:30 p.m. against Wheaton.