Girls tennis wins first leg of county tournament

Blair tennis' number two doubles pair clobbered their Blake High School rivals 6-1, 6-0 in the first match of the 2001 county tennis tournament.

Junior Alia Halabi and freshman Kamisha Samuda, who comprise the number two doubles team, played masterfully. Samuda combined slamming volleys with consistent returns and serves while Halabi's powerful strokes, fiery backhand volleys and whizzing forehands earned the pair ace after ace and then the match.

Although his girls emerged triumphant, coach David Ngbea stressed the need for the team to perfect their skills. "We're making too many mistakes like hitting balls into the net or out," he said. "We've been practicing too much [to mess up]."

Ngbea cited volleys and returns as the main areas in need of attention. Nevertheless, he commended the pair's overall volleying performance.
Samuda was also proud of the victory but handed most of the credit to her partner. "I got a lot of my volleys and first serves in," she said. "But Alia hit a lot of great shots. She had real good overheads and serves."

While number two doubles played their match on Blair soil today, the other team members played at high schools around the county.

Doubles two will move on to Northwest High School tomorrow where they will try to maintain their victorious streak. If the team is successful, they will then move on to the next level of competition. There are four levels in the county tournament; the duo won the first of two branches of level one today and are confident that they have what it takes to be county champions.