Girl's tennis rebounds to defeat Kennedy

The girl's tennis team has had a rocky season, marked with both 7-0 wins and 0-7 losses. However, the Blazers didn't let their past interfere with their game against Kennedy, as they rolled over the opposition 6-1.

Blair won all three of its doubles matches and three of its four singles matches under a beautiful September sky.

The Blazer singles performed very well. First single Stephanie Paul won 6-3, 6-0 and third single Aditi Bhaskar won a 6-1, 7-5 close call. Second single Valerie Shen was on her way to defeat her Kennedy opponent, but the match was called in the middle of the second set after her opponent's elbow became swollen and painful. The score, which counted as a Blair win, was 7-5, 3-2. Fourth single Pearl Horng suffered a heartbreaking 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 tiebreaker defeat after a grueling two-hour match.

The girl's doubles teams also had a winning day. First doubles Seema Kacker and Katharine Epstein triumphed 6-4, 6-2, second singles Janice No and Emily Tsui won 6-2, 6-2 and third doubles Dominique Francin and Jahvani Bhaskar pulled off a 6-0, 7-5 victory.

Although pleased with his team's performance in the Kennedy match, coach Ngbea was nonetheless concerned about the girls' often erratic playing. "We just are making more mistakes. At this level, its mostly mistakes," said Ngbea. What is the team's main stumbling block right now? "It's just one word – inconsistency," he said, pointing to his team's record of three wins and three losses.

"We played Churchill, and we lost 0-7. But Churchill was the only team I felt outmatched us," he added. "I sincerely believe we could have beaten both other teams that beat us," Wootton and Whitman.

Although the team has suffered three defeats, they have also had three very solid victories. They defeated Springbrook 7-0, Seneca Valley 7-0, and Kennedy 6-1.

"I believe if we pull it up, move our feet a little bit more, and keep trying, then we'll be alright," said team member Okuma Kerimova.