Handball Hands Out Losses

May 15th, 2002

By Hannah Zhou
The Dragons were fuming and the Furies were furious after first round playoff exits. So far this season, both teams have shown drastic improvement and great determination to not let that happen again.
The Furies have been on the warpath, but the only team able to hold them at bay has been LaGuardia. The girls' handball team is 6-2 with both losses to LaGuardia. After being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last year by Bronx Science, the Furies realized that there is much work to be done if they want to succeed.

These much-needed improvements have been made. The first loss to LaGuardia was 4-1, while the second was 3-2. Sophomore Winnie Poon said, "We came pretty close to winning a game against them sometime last week, but they have a pretty strong team in the sense that they pick on your weaknesses."

The team also feels supported by Coach Erik Connolly. "He really looks out for us," sophomore Amanda Eng said. "When we play, we make our best efforts but we also keep optimistic."

The Dragons, the boys' handball team, is working extremely hard to avoid a first round exit from the playoffs, like last year. Staten Island Technical High School was ruthless in defeating the Dragons in the first elimination round, but this time the Dragons will be more prepared.

With a perfect record of 9-0 and first place in their division, the Dragons have been putting extra work into the past few practices. Coach Robert Sandler has been pressing his team to work harder and strive for what was not achieved last year. "He's a good coach who helps us develop our strengths and pounds our weaknesses, said senior starter Ching Chan.