Girls' tennis dominates Warriors

BLAZER TENNIS COURTS, Sep. 13 -

After suffering a crushing defeat a few days earlier, the girls' tennis team stepped up their performance and left the Sherwood Warriors in the dust. The Lady Blazers (3-1) significantly minimized errors and improved weak spots, winning 7-0 against the Division I Sherwood Warriors (2-2).

By defeating a Division I team, the Blazers have likely secured their position as a fellow Division I team. Coach David Ngbea was very pleased with the idea of remaining in Division I and believed that the players will now be relieved of some pressure. "It was one of my goals for the season to remain a Division I team," Ngbea said. "Now, I hope this means the girls will relax more."

Second doubles and senior co-captains Ann Choi and Anya Gosine put up a strong fight, winning their match 6-0, 6-1. "We went in with a positive attitude and we learned and improved from the Whitman game," Choi said. Throughout the match the duo had consistent volleys, ground strokes and serves.

First singles senior co-captain Shilpa Kannan also fought hard and ended strong when she won 6-3, 6-3. Kannan started off slow with soft hits and struggled with her backhand, but she eventually found her way and hit one fast ball after another until the end of the match. Kannan won an impressive game point after a nail-biting five deuces and she also played a skilled set, coming back from a 3-2 deficit to win the set 6-3.

Fourth singles sophomore Allison Whitney showed great consistency in her match, while her opponent, Warrior Erin Ryan, continued to hit ball into the net, giving the Whitney the win 6-3, 6-2. Whitney found that she improved her movement considerably from previous games. "My opponent had good serves, but I really moved to the ball and was a lot more consistent," she said.

The second doubles team of senior co-captains Hannah Ho and Ava Wallace struggled more with errors, but their opponents had difficulty as well, resulting in a win for Blair 6-2, 6-3. Ho claimed that she didn't perform to the best of her ability, which made the game drag on in what should have been a quick win. She felt that she hit too many balls out and had too many bad volleys. Ho and Wallace's opponents, Warriors Jessica Golding and Paige Reddan, hit many floaters, where the ball is hit slowly and floats over the net, which made it easier for Ho and Wallace to claim the game points.

Ngbea felt that the girls improved from their previous loss and was impressed with their consistency throughout the match. Though Sherwood was a strong team that never wanted to give up, Ngbea was proud of the Blazers for getting competitive and aggressive. "I wanted them to move from play mode to competition mode and they did very well," Ngbea said. "They performed much better. I expected us to win and we won by more than I thought."

The girls' tennis team will play their next home game on Tuesday, Sept. 21 against Wootton at 3:30 p.m.

Editor's Note: Ava Wallace is Editor-in-Chief of Silver Chips Online, and Anya Gosine is Managing Editor of Silver Chips Online.