South Jersey Tennis: Next Stop, The Finals For A Young Star Saturday, July 21, 2001 By Gregory "Graig" White SJSports Staff Writer On a day that saw heat that would make a camel beg for water, Brianna Brown of Pennsauken, played with all the coolness of a polar bear. Competing in The Art McAlway Memorial Tournament at Mill Creek Park in Willingboro NJ, Miss Brown traded ground strokes and games with Miss Karrissa Bendijo of Atlantic City NJ. The match saw the two athletes start out a little slow, both athletes waiting for the other to make the mistake. Brianna's steady forehand, that has been know to make others wilt under the heat, helped her win the first set 6-3. Karrissa who seem to have a pretty decent game plan coming in kept her opponent off balance with an array of well placed shots that seemed to keep Brianna off balance. But after losing the first set, Karrissa seemed to throw caution to the wind and started to bring a little heat her self. The two athletes were hitting the ball with skill that made people think that the match was a qualifier for a grand slam event. Karrissa came out and attacked the ball with a desire to that seemed to say that Brianna was going to have to earn every point they played. Point after point, game after game, the two traded winners and unforced errors. At the end, Brianna had won the second set as well by a score of 6-2. Sending Miss Brown to her third final in as many tournaments. When asked how it felt to be playing for a title Brianna responded, "I'm nervous, but I should be ok. It was pretty tough out there, and she was pretty good," was the response on how it felt to be playing in those conditions. With the semifinal over all eyes turned to the finals and focusing on her first tournament championship and the expectation that the third time will be the charm. Brianna did go on to win the title by the score of 6-1, 6-1.

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