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Perfect 10
Week 6 Recap
The Lady Lancers finished the
regular season undefeated in the Public League for the first time since
2005, when our current senior class was in the eighth grade.
Monday featured an
adventure up Route 1 as the team visited Neshaminy. We were honored to be
their opponents on Senior Day, their final home match of the season. As
expected, the Redskins brought considerable depth to the match, and were a
force at doubles, winning on the first, second, and fourth courts. For
Central, the trio of Alex Lawall, Valerie Cherny, and Lily Goldberg all won
back-and-forth singles matches. It was the third doubles team of Shannon
Crane and Kemar Prussien that made the difference with their 6-1, 6-3 win.
This was especially gratifying for Kemar, who felt like she had let us down
with a tough loss vs. Masterman the Thursday before. This couldnÕt be
further from the truth, Kemar!
TuesdayÕs 5-0 win over
Northeast capped an impressive accomplishment. This is our first undefeated
regular season in the league during my tenure as coach. In my estimation, this
is the strongest team IÕve had in four years. The scary part? We have only
two seniors on the roster, and our singles players include two sophomores
and a freshman. Our best days are clearly ahead of us!
Alex and Valerie competed
in both the Public League Singles and Doubles Tournaments Wednesday and
Thursday. Alex fended off a strong challenge from WashingtonÕs Selina
Ocasio in the semifinals, 6-2, 7-5. Mari Samadashvili, also of Washington,
proved to be too much as she swept by both Valerie in the semis and Alex in
the finals. In doubles, Alex and Val survived a topsy-turvy semifinal
against WashingtonÕs Selina Ocasio and Christina Little, 6-4, 0-6, 10-6.
Their rally in the final fell short as GirlsÕ HighÕs Lillian Smith and
Alexis Puhl won the crown, 6-1, 7-5.
Next week features the
leagueÕs semifinals and finals in the AAA classification. The gals will be
ready and will give it their best shot!
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Alex Lawall (above)
fires a backhand while co-captains Lan Nguyen (net) and Jenny Hua (serving)
look to win another point against Jenkintown.
Photo credits:
Natalie Fox (272)
Click on the above
photos to see them full-size in the Central HS Tennis 2009 gallery on philly.com.
E-MAIL COACH GRAHAM
at
wjg119@yahoo.com.
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To Be DeterminedÉ
Week
7 Recap
This
week will be remembered more for what didnÕt take place than what did. Central did win its Public League Class
AAA semifinal over Lincoln 5-0 on Tuesday. However, the highly anticipated
final against GirlsÕ High was postponed Thursday and rescheduled for
Monday. To stay loose, the team had a lively indoor practice using caution
tape as a net and speedballs and transition balls in place of tennis balls.
It was what tennis is supposed to be: fun! If we can continue to have fun
and stay focused, we will like our results next week.
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