Varsity
Laura Brantley, Head Coach

JV
Kate Sykes, Head Coach

The tennis season runs from mid-September through October.

Congratulations Torera Fagbenle ’13 for her honorable mention to the All MAPL team for 2011!

Girls’ Tennis Makes Blair History Books
Varsity Team Takes State Prep "A" Title

The Blair girls’ varsity tennis team took the state Prep "A" title on October 28! The Bucs competed in the NJISAA State Tournament at Pingry, where they landed the first girls’ Prep "A" tennis title in Blair’s history. Congratulations are in order, says head coach Laura Brantley, to the team and to individual champions Kelsey Vella and Isabel Peil, along with doubles champions Sam Beck and Deanna Inez. Laura added, “Sam Light and the tandem of Steph Gorman and Torera Fagbenle placed second in the tournament in close, competitive matches. The wind made for two tough matches on the doubles courts. Steph and Torera put up a good fight against a strong Lawrenceville team. Sam and Deanna started out pretty well despite the conditions. After dropping the second set, they came out incredibly strong in the third set and secured the title for the Bucs.” See the results below:

Singles:
Madison Stevens (Pingry) def. Sam Light (B) 4-6,6-2,0-6
Kelsey Vella (B) def. Kelly Mao (Pingry) 6-3, 7-5
Isabel Peil (B) def. Naomi Wong (Pingry) 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-0

Doubles:
Sam Beck/Deanna Inez (B) def. Christina Zajowski (Pingry) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
Yasmeen Mahayni/Megan Norris (Lawrenceville) def. Steph Gorman/Torera Fagbenle (B) 7-5, 6-4

Greetings!
The purpose of this letter is to provide a brief introduction to the Blair Academy girls’ tennis program. Girls’ tennis has been a popular sport at Blair, and we have had much success over the last decade throughout the state of New Jersey. Blair won the Prep B-Division State Championships in 1997 and then moved up to the Prep A Division. The Blair team ended the 2001 season with a winning 12-3 record for the second year in a row, and a respectable third place finish in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL). In 2004, the team posted a 13-3 record, and three varsity players earned All-State honors. Most recently, Blair finished the 2010 season as Prep A Champs and MAPL Champs, continuing the Blair tradition of a successful tennis program.  Over the past few years, the team has established itself as a force to be reckoned with, which has allowed us to build a tremendous schedule in which we face some of the toughest teams throughout the state.

Among those teams are Newark Academy, Montclair Kimberley Academy, The Hun School, Lawrenceville, The Peddie School and Princeton Day School. We are playing 23 dual matches this year in addition to the New Jersey State Prep Tournament.

Our season begins with a rigorous but fun pre-season camp at the end of August. All varsity candidates arrive at Blair one week before other students and embark on a practice regimen aimed at getting athletes into shape and building a sense of team unity. Regular season practices last for approximately two hours after school and include conditioning, drills, use of a ball machine, videotaping of strokes, and match play. Blair’s tennis complex consists of nine Deco-Turf II hard tennis courts (same surface as the U.S. Open).

An additional highlight of the Blair tennis tradition is the fact that we are the founding school of the New England Mid-Atlantic Tennis Invitational (NEMA’s). The tournament, sponsored by Asics, Head Penn Tennis and Coca Cola, has gained a reputation as one of the premier high school boys’ tennis tournaments in the country. Sixteen teams from seven different states participated in the event last season. The tournament is entering its ninth year and the competition is stronger each year. The NEMA’s have heightened Blair’s reputation on the local and national level among colleges and universities. Recent Blair graduates have gone on to play tennis at Smith College, Kenyon College, Lafayette College, Lehigh University and Brown University.

Returning for her second year as the Head Coach, Laura Brantley brings a wealth of experience to the Blair courts. Coach Brantley graduated from Hamilton College (’10) in Clinton, NY, where she was a captain and four-year varsity letter winner. Coach Brantley’s enthusiasm and love for the game of tennis will surely translate into another successful tennis season this fall.

The assistant coach, Kate Sykes, is a graduate of Penn State and brings a tremendous amount of enthusiasm to the program. Coach Sykes is also a most effective and popular art teacher and she is the Chair of the Art department.

Thank you for your interest in the Blair girls’ tennis program! If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact head coach Laura Brantley via e-mail at brantl@blair.edu.

Laura Brantley
Head Girls’ Tennis Coach

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