Martlets Fall to Dana Hall

The girls traveled to Philadelphia for the High School Nationals fully expecting to play tight matches, and day 1 didn’t disappoint. What wasn’t expected was the absence of #1 player Sophia Lazor ‘27, who fell ill at a very inopportune time. Co-captain Elle Wilson ‘26 bore the brunt of Sophia’s absence, having to play two very strong players, including PDS’s 5.8-rated #1. Everyone else on the ladder found themselves in at least one match that went beyond three games on the first day. Playing at #2, Marti Jaramillo Aman ‘27 was tantalizingly close in her morning match against Dana Hall, but went down in four (8, (8), 7, 9) before running into a powerful opponent in the afternoon, losing 7, 1, 3. At #3, Sophia Wen ‘29, had a similar experience, unable to hold on after taking the first game of her morning match ((6), 6, 9, 6), and then coming up short against PDS in a match that was much more even than the 3-0 score would suggest (8, 8, 10). Co-captain Emily Fonner ‘26 won twice at #4, but neither match was easy (7, 13, 6 and 6, (3), 7, 7). Co- captain Chase Hager ‘26 played one of the four five-game matches on the day, earning a gritty win (8, 6, (3), (8), 6)) at #5 that kept the team’s hopes alive against Dana Hall. Slowed by a sore foot, she put up a good fight, but fell in three (5, 12, 1) in her afternoon match. Like Marti and Sophia, Anna Min ‘27 was right there against both of her opponents at #7, but did not have a win to show for it. She lost in three tight games against Dana (5, 13, 8), while against PDS, she fought her way out of an 0-2 hole and came as close to winning as one can in defeat (10, 9, (6), (7), 10). Finally, the iron-woman award goes to Natasha Johnson ‘27, playing at #6. She went to five games in both of her matches, and in both cases, she refused to lose despite falling behind, putting up exhausting score lines ((9), (1), 6, 7, 5 and (7), 8, (9), 7, 7). The girls earned a date with Greenwich High School for their lone Saturday match, with impending weather putting their Sunday match very much in doubt.