Girls tennis wraps up home games with 5-2 victory over Sherwood

The girls tennis team finished off their Sherwood rivals today, 5-2, after games were suspended almost a month ago due to inclement weather.

The Blazer girls entered today's match with their division 1 status secure after Blair won the match yesterday against Magruder 5-2. Before the games were postponed, 2 of 3 doubles teams had won their matches 6-0, 6-0 against Sherwood. In singles, senior co-captain Julia Kay had notched a 6-0, 6-0 victory over her Sherwood opponent, bolstering the team coming into today's game.

Number 3 singles player Vivian Wang followed her teammates' lead today, taking home the gold, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2. Wang and her opponent participated in several lobbing games until Wang seized control of the match, clearly letting her opponent know who was boss. In a combination of low-riding ground strokes and solid returns, Wang accumulated point after point. But in mid-set, Wang's opponent, visibly frustrated by Wang's gaping lead, demanded that coach Ngbea and Sherwood's coach judge the lines. Wang was not discouraged by her opponent's mistrust however, and proceeded to demolish her opponent 6-2 in the final set.

Although congratulated by teammates and coach, Wang sees her victory not so much in terms of defeating her opponent but rather in terms of Wang's opponent "beating herself." Wang admitted that for a large part of the game, her short shots and difficulty in gauging her opponent's strokes proved to be a major downfall. However, Wang recovered by adding topspin to her shots, thus directing the balls "above the comfort zone" of her opponent and winning the match.

In doubles, senior Nisha Aggarwal and sophomore Tiffany Lin were eager to squeeze out the final point needed to win their match, but before the pair reached the courts they were informed that their Sherwood rivals had forfeited the game, leaving the team more than satisfied with their previous score of 6-0, 5-2 (40-15).

The number 1 and 2 players, senior co-captain Jennifer Alyono and junior Lisa Kim combined low-trimmed serves with strategic lobs and angled volleys, but neither player could get a lock on their games. Alyono was defeated 6-3, 6-1 while Kim lost 6-1, 6-4.

Although Kim was defeated, her focus today was not on winning but on improving her control and overall skills. "I'm trying to be consistent," she said between serves in the last set.

Ngbea acknowledged Kim's efforts to fine tune her strokes and continued to emphasize the importance of playing correctly. "[We need to] work on brushing excessively and making contact and rolling the racket," Ngbea said. "Too many balls are going out. [We need to] intertwine the position of the racket face and the racket handle to make the ball jump. That [topspin] will let you be as aggressive as you can."