Sophie Han '27 and Susanna Huang '27
Apr 12, 2024
Last weekend was marked by several intense games for Blue Storm boys tennis, girls lacrosse, baseball, and softball teams competing with Mid-Atlantic Prep League rival Blair Academy.
The tennis team has been training consistently. “We have been working on a lot of doubles and serves this week. I really hope we get to show what we practiced,” said Ben Cho ’24. About the team’s dynamic, Dave Nguyen ’24 explained, “The team is very united because we have the same goal: winning the MAPL [tournament]. That encourages us to practice a lot every day.”
Regarding the match, head coach Matt Mehler said, “Our number one goal for this match is to win, of course. I also want to see our players relaxed in their matches. They play much better relaxed than in the nervous state.”
Unfortunately, the team wound up on the wrong end of a 0-7 score. Despite the loss, Max Zhang ’26 put a positive spin on the match, “We lost, but we did identify the problems we had to improve upon, so we are hopeful of strengthening our flaws for our next match.”
The girls' lacrosse team ended their game down 8-13. Despite that, the results were satisfactory for the team. “We want to improve daily, regardless of big or small. It’s going really well!” stated head coach Kristin Ahlgren, “We are having a great time, and the hard work is paying off.”
After the game, Lexi Chepren ’26 remarked, “We all went into the game with a very good mindset. We worked hard on defense and targeted difficult and important parts of the game to try our best chances.”
Scarlett McArthur ’24 described the remarkable bond the team established collectively, “We have a lot of awesome seniors and returning players who kept the chemistry in our team high by communicating during practices and games.” Nora Smith ’24 added, “We are currently focusing on the quality in games, such as valuing each player.”
As the baseball team prepared for its double-header, head coach Josh Edgin ’06 said, “We have worked hard all week, [spending] time to get better. For this matchup against Blair, we want to win both games.”
“We are confident going into this weekend. We have a good pitching rotation set to prepare for the games. Our main goal is pitching and defense to take some pressure off our offense, and have more quality at-bats as a team,” elaborated Thomas Davenport ‘24.
The team won both games against Blair, 11-6 in the first game and 8-1 in the second.
“We are very happy with the results, and we hope to maintain the steam we picked up throughout the last few weeks for our next match!” explained Thomas Marchesi ’24 after the victories.
The softball team was also hard at work preparing for their game. “We feel ready to play with the stronger team. We are pretty prepared and aware of what’s coming up this weekend,” stated Allister Caretti ’26.
“The team is doing so well so far. We are off to a brand-new start with the team bonding helping us,” said head coach Lauren Jacobs, “For the game against Blair, unfortunately, the weather made us stay inside all week. [However,] we are prepared, and we will stand firm for this game.”
The softball team was blanked in the opener 0-5 and was also edged out in the second game 4-2. Despite the losses, the team is looking forward to the rest of the season. According to Pritz Pritzker ’24, “Something amazing about this team is there’s always an abundance of energy. Whether it’s a dugout dance party or a hype talk, we’re always ready for anything!”