Varsity girls' tennis dominates the Panthers

The Blair girls' varsity tennis team (7-5) triumphed over Paint Branch High School (3-9) with flying colors on Tuesday afternoon. The Blazers' calmness on the court, along with the Panthers' double faults, helped the Blazers secure an easy victory.

Captain Priscah Rodenhuis, a senior, won Blair's first singles with a score of 6-1 in both sets. Her fast returns helped create a strong momentum swinging back and forth between her and her opponent. "What I asked them to do was to attack as much as possible," Coach David Ngbea said. With each pass of the ball, the Panthers visibly lost more and more energy until the the Blazers were able to win the point in that game.

The Blazers fared equally well in their second singles. Junior Isabella Hunt won both sets by scores of 6-2 and 6-3. Her serves to the edges of the service box made it harder for her opponent to return the balls in time. In addition, the Panthers were forced to spend most of their energy, giving Hunt the upper hand in the sets.

All other Blair singles and doubles also played well. Within 10 minutes, most Blazers were already leading in their sets, and in about an hour, the Blazers had vanquished the Panthers and won their last home game of the season. Captains Caitlin and Gillian Lee, seniors, won both of their sets with scores of 6-1 and 6-0. In contrast to Rodenhuis, Caitlin and Gillian hit serves that fell "dead" after crossing the net, taking away the momentum the Panthers needed to return the ball back over the net again.

Ngbea noted that as long as Blair did well at the net and at the baseline, then the Blazers could win. "Where we were most lacking in was the volleys and serves, and as long as we're doing those things well, we're good," Ngbea said.

Sophomore Mary Chang, third singles, noted that she may not have played up to her full potential, because the game started earlier than usual. "I think I did pretty well, but our matched started early, so I didn't have any time to warm up other than the warm-up against [the Panthers]. Definitely, in the beginning, I wasn't playing as well as I should have," Chang said.

In terms of the season as a whole, captain Christine Cho, a senior, was happy about how it ended. "Overall, I'm very satisfied with how we did. I think we ended the game pretty well," Christine Cho said.

Reflecting on the whole season, Ngbea is optimistic about the results of the season. "After all is said and done, the season was not a lost cause. We shall end the season 7-5," Ngbea said.