Vikings conquer boys' tennis

BLAIR TENNIS COURTS, April 28 -

On cold and windswept tennis courts, the boys' tennis team lost to the Whitman Vikings 6 - 1. Despite the final score, junior co-captain Rohan Bhale said the Blazer team put up a stronger fight this year than they had against the Vikings in the past.

According to junior co-captain Jason Albanese, the Blazers were expecting tough competition from Whitman, which is a very successful team. "They're one of the tougher opponents that we face," he said.

Nonetheless, the scores of individual matches were much closer than in past years. "This is the best we've done against them in a few years," Bhale said. Junior co-captain Dukyoung Park, a first singles player, won his individual match against Whitman, contributing the only point Blair achieved in the final score. The third doubles team beat Whitman in the first set, but lost the match overall. "A lot of sets were split," Albanese said.

According to Albanese, the major problems occurred when doubles teams hit the ball into the net, had trouble returning serves and couldn't recover mentally from setbacks during the games. He added that 30 mile per hour winds contributed to sloppier play, making the direction of hits much less predictable.

The boys' tennis team plays their next home game against Northwood on Monday, May 3 at 3:30 p.m.