Blazers slam Titans in home opener

The nice weather - a respite from the seemingly relentless summer heat - complimented the girls' tennis team's winning match on Monday. The Blazers crushed the Einstein Titans by a score of 7-0. The game was the team's home opener and the win left the spirited and eager girls even more enthusiastic in securing the Division I championship.

At first singles, senior captain Sneha Kannan showed ease throughout the match. Kannan showed obvious ease through the first set and the second set. Kannan quickly took the first set 6-0 and displayed strong consistency and control through out the match, which allowed her to win the second set 6-1.

Sophomore Shilpa Kannan also showed skill as the second singles player, winning easily 6-1 and 6-0. She displayed good ball placement and delivered a necessary spin on speedballs. Third singles player junior Deepa Chellappa breezed through her game, winning 6-1, 6-1. Fourth singles player Sarah Tran managed to also edge a win in a long-fought two-hour 6-2, 7-6 match. Tram's main difficulty in the second set was that she occasionally missed the ball at the receiving end. "Sometimes the ball brushed by the racket," Tram said.

In first doubles, sophomores Ava Wallace and Hannah Ho had incredible ball control and especially strong volleys. They won the match by a score of 6-0 and 6-2, without breaking much of a sweat. Their opponents could not respond to Wallace's signature volleys as she delivered them repeatedly and successfully. "I guess we played pretty well," Ho said modestly. "Our strengths were lobbies and volleys."

Junior Elissa Shiau was missing as a second doubles player due to a leg injury. Instead, the second doubles team players were sophomores Ann Choi and Anna Lu. Continuing the winning pattern of the other teammates, Choi and Lu defeated their Titan opponents with a score of 6-0, 6-2. Together, they had good consistency and strong ball control that allowed them to secure the win.

Third doubles players, junior Tiffany Chang and sophomore Anya Gosin, also won their match with an all-too-familiar set of winning scores of 6-0 and 6-1.

At the end, head coach David Ngbea congratulated the team, but still saw more work ahead in order to win the Division I championship by the end of the season. "Overall, the team played its very best. We still have to master our techniques, but this was still a nice game," Ngbea said. "I would also like us to give a shout out to the Einstein team."

The Blazer's next home game is Thursday, Sept. 11 against Richard Montgomery at 3:30 p.m.