Girls' tennis shoots down Rockets

BLAZER TENNIS COURTS, Oct. 5 -

Facing 15-25 MPH winds, the girls' tennis team bundled up for what they expected to be a long and rough match. The Lady Blazers (7-3) fought hard and played well, ultimately winning 5-2 against the Richard Montgomery Rockets (5-3).

By defeating the Rockets the Lady Blazers have secured three divisional wins and their title as a Division I team. Head coach David Ngbea was satisfied with this accomplishment and said that the Lady Blazers exceeded his expectations for the season. "I have the same goal every year – to remain a Division I team, and we made that goal," Ngbea said.

Despite strong winds, sophomore singles player Janvi Raichura won her game 6-3, 6-1. Having lost twice before to Rocket Thuy-linh Nguyen, Raichura was determined to beat her opponent in this game. Raichura played her match with a fierce forehand and overall consistency, while learning to capitalize on the weaknesses of her opponent, which led to her win. "She got frustrated quickly while I stayed consistent," Raichura said.

One of the Lady Blazer's losses went to the third doubles team of juniors Anna Lu and Stella Bartholet. The pair felt that that they had problems with consistency and communication, losing 1-6, 6-1, 2-6 after a strong fight. The Rockets had strong volleys and hit a large number of short balls near the net, which thwarted Lu and Bartholet, a pair that occasionally struggles with covering the entire court. Overall, Lu felt that inconsistent serves contributed to her loss. "We were beating ourselves," Lu said. "We could have won, but we made a lot of errors."

An impressive win of 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 went to the first doubles team of senior co-captains Hannah Ho and Ava Wallace. The Ho-Wallace duo excelled where the Lu-Bartholet team admitted they fell short. Ho believed they won their match because of their strong teamwork and communication, which was especially prevalent in the third set. In the fight for the last two points in the third set, Ho and Wallace stepped up their teamwork and energetically reached to hit every ball. Ho also felt that she was consistent and stayed energized throughout the sets, which worked to her team's advantage.

At times, windy and cold conditions influenced the match. According to Ngbea, the strong winds ended to deflect the ball when it was thrown upwards for a serve and cold caused a weakened grip on the racket.

In a close and well-played match the Lady Blazers secured their position as a Division I team. Although Ngbea and the players agreed that they still need to improve in some areas, the team has a successful season to show for their work thus far. "We've played well in other games and our chances were good," Ngbea said. "However, we still need to maintain our level of performance, minimize errors and work on consistency."

The girls' tennis team will play their next home game on Monday, Oct. 11 against Rockville at 3:30 p.m.

Editor's Note: Ava Wallace is Editor-in-Chief of Silver Chips Online and Stella Bartholet is a Page Editor on Silver Chips Print.