For the second day in a row, the Poly Prep Girls’ Varsity headed to Eastern Athletic Club to face off against a highly ranked Saint Ann’s team. Similar to Packer, Saint Ann’s top seven players are nationally ranked (some with rankings in the top 20 in their age division). The Blue Devils came out focused and prepared for a tough match and proved to be up for the task with a solid performance overall.
ltimately, Poly went down 2-5, but had two strong wins at the top and bottom of the lineup. Senior and captain, Nicole Colandrea, had a convincing win at number 7, where she focused on deep length to put her opponent under pressure and create wining opportunities. Grace Bell, at number one, achieved an impressive win against her Saint Ann’s opponent, Emily Sherwood, who is currently ranked #21 in the US in the Girls U17 division. Bell had a slow start, but made impressive adjustments with her length in the second and third games to take the lead 2-1.
But Sherwood countered by speeding up the pace of place and putting Bell under pressure in the 4th and beginning of the 5th. Bell refocused and capitalized on two unforced errors and completely changed the momentum in the middle of the 5th, taking the fifth game 11-6. Freshman Lily Rosenblum joined the team last minute, taking the place of an injured Lena Khalifa and achieved her varsity exhibition match win. After sustaining long rallies and oscillating games, Rosenblum pulled out the victory, winning by 2 points in the fifth game. Once again, this match proved to be an invaluable learning experience for every player and the Poly Varsity looks forward to their second head to head in January on their home courts! Results: Poly 2, Saint Ann’s 5
- Grace Bell (PP) beat Emily Sherwood (SA) 5-11, 11-6, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6
- Lizzy Lasusa (PP) lost to Veronica Culhane (SA) 2-11, 3-11, 2-11, 47 in GU17
- Charlotte Bowditch (PP) lost to Katrina Northrop (SA) 2-11, 4-11, 2-11, GU17, 36
- Kim Burke (PP) lost to Fiona Agger (SA) 6-11, 5-11, 9-11, 40 in U17
- Olivia Doran (PP) lost to Nina Premutico (SA) 3-11, 5-11, 1-11
- Isabella Plotnik (PP) lost to Natalie Nagorski (SA) 7-11, 3-11, 1-11
- Nicole Colandrea (PP) beat Elliot Menard (SA) 11-2, 11-0, 11-3
- Exhibition Match: Lily Rosenblum (PP) beat Alex Eptein (SA) 11-5, 9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9
