Netmen lose Divisional prospects

The Blair's boys tennis team was defeated by a slim margin (3-4) on Apr 17 in a key divisional match at Quince Orchard.

A Blazer victory would have cleared the way towards seizing the division title, according to coach David Ngbea. Instead, Ngbea predicted the battle to be between Springbrook and Quince Orchard.

Although Ngbea does not want to eliminate all possibilities of Blair capturing the division title, he notes that his team's prospects are not looking good. "The only was to win the division is if Quince Orchard loses to Springbrook and we beat Springbrook," he said, adding that the chances of Blair lucking out in both instances are bleak.

Pressure and fear of making errors were the major factors contributing to Blair's defeat, according to Ngbea. "One of the hardest hitters hit gently because he was afraid of making mistakes," he said, referring to number four singles player, sophomore Gordon Su. "The match was important so he became scared. Consequently, he stopped swinging hard and the other kid attacked him."

In a previous match against Damascus on Mar 26, Ngbea remembers Su crushing his opponent 6-1, 6-2, while Su choked in the game against Quince Orchard, a school which Damascus had previously defeated.

In doubles, an arena in which Ngbea was sure to sweep "hands down," two out of the three teams were defeated. The coach cited over swinging as the pairs' main flaw. "We should have won all doubles but we lost because of over hitting," he explained. "[The duos] were hitting balls out. If we lost a match, it was because we were beating ourselves."

Despite Blair's loss and its virtual elimination from the divisional competition, Ngbea maintains that his boys are the best in their division. "No one is better than us in our division," he said. "We've played Division I teams for Christ's sake."