Spring Sports Update

Girls' Lacrosse

Despite the fact that the girls' lacrosse team (2-4) has lost to two teams, B-CC and Whitman, that it beat last year, the team remains confident that it can rebound, said senior co-captain Tessa Mork. The 9-15 loss to B-CC was especially disappointing to the players because B-CC knocked Blair out of the playoffs last year. However, Mork remains sure of the team's abilities and believes that the hard work they are doing in practice will pay off. "We are just as good as we were last year, but we didn't play to our full potential in these two games," she said.

With twelve returning players, and strong players moving up from JV, the team hopes that they will attain a winning record by the end of the season. After holding powerhouse Walter Johnson for the first half of Friday's game, the team is ready to apply new strategies and techniques, especially defensively. The girls' lacrosse team is hoping to rebound from a slow start of the season with some new moves.

Boys' Lacrosse

An exciting win against Paintbranch is reassuring to boys' varsity lacrosse and brings them closer to their goal of breaking 500. After a series of close losses, the boys' lacrosse team (2-4) is hoping to redeem itself during the second half of the season. The team is struggling to maintain a winning record this season; their goal is to at least perform better than last year's weak 2-10 record. Under the guidance of new coach Chris Brown, the team has improved both technique and discipline wise, and become more competitive within their division.

According to Brown and junior Matthew Whitney, there was a lack of effort and commitment at the beginning of the season as the large team struggled with absentee problems and learning the basics of the game. However, Brown thinks that the team has recently adopted a positive attitude and a more cooperative approach. And even though their record is far from perfect, senior captain Guodong Fu still believes that the team is competitive. "I don't think our record really shows how hard we are working and how well we are working as a team," he said.

Baseball
After finishing last years' season with a weak record of 5-12, Blair's varsity baseball team (2-7) is hoping to improve by achieving at least a winning record. According to captain Lucas Babinec, the team has everything it needs to clinch games, but individual players are not living up to their potential. When it comes down to the big-game winning plays, the team has been unable to deliver so far. This accounts for many of their losses but it is not representative of their playing. "It's a bit tough right now because I definitely had higher expectations for this season," he said.

The team is dedicated to working hard this year, and Babinec believes that the extra practice time that they are putting in will pay off. "We should have better attitudes and we shouldn't be getting down on ourselves because we have been working really hard," he said. With seven games in the upcoming week, many of which are against less competitive teams, the team is hoping to substantially improve their record.

Softball

After finishing last years' season with a weak record of 5-12, Blair's varsity baseball team (2-7) is hoping to improve by achieving at least a winning record. According to captain Lucas Babinec, the team has everything it needs to clinch games, but individual players are not living up to their potential. When it comes down to the big-game winning plays, the team has been unable to deliver so far. This accounts for many of their losses but it is not representative of their playing. "It's a bit tough right now because I definitely had higher expectations for this season," he said.

The team is dedicated to working hard this year, and Babinec believes that the extra practice time that they are putting in will pay off. "We should have better attitudes and we shouldn't be getting down on ourselves because we have been working really hard,” he said. With seven games in the upcoming week, many of which are against less competitive teams, the team is hoping to substantially improve their record.

Tennis

After graduating five seniors last year – all of whom were starters – the varsity tennis team is working on remaining competitive within Division I. With a record of 5-3 so far, the team only needs to win one more match in order to stay in Division I, where they will settle around fourth or fifth place, captain Ajay Kannan hopes, close to the placing of their predecessors. They have won one divisional match so far and will encounter top-seated Churchill in another divisional match on Tuesday. Kannan is hoping the match with Churchill goes well, and is confident, particularly because the Blair team was competitive against this force last year.

Many people tried out for the tennis team this past season, and the team is comprised of both returning players and promising new athletes. According to Kannan, the first doubles team and the majority of the singles are very strong, which has allowed Blair to pull ahead in many key matches. The team has been working on volleys during practice in order to end points quickly and with confidence, Kannan said.

Boys' Volleyball

Boys' volleyball (7-1) blasted through the competition earlier this season until the Richard Montgomery Rockets brought them up short on Friday. Blair's squad was missing half of their team because of the Wallops Island field trip, and ended up playing with only five players after senior Michael Zang re-injured his shoulder. Despite their disadvantages, the blazers won one of the games and held the Rockets closely in the other two games. When they meet again during the playoffs season, senior co-captain Robert Huang is confident that the blazers will be victorious by a large margin.

Other than Richard Montgomery, Blazer volleyball destroyed all competition, beating all of the opposing teams thoroughly. Boys' volleyball has a relatively easy schedule this year, but things are going to heat up come playoffs time, where they will be playing many strong teams that they do not get the chance to meet during the regular season. In preparation for the playoffs to start, the team will be working on passing and effective communication on the court. Last year's team made it to semifinals, and this year's team hopes to do the same if not better.