The San Diego Mesa College women’s badminton team suffered their first loss of the year falling 9-12 to an experienced Pasadena City College team. The Lancers are a traditional powerhouse in women’s badminton capturing the state title in 2017, 2018, and runner-ups in 2016 and 2019. Last season, the team carried with them a 51-match winning streak that started in 2015.
Despite the loss, the coaching staff praised how well the Olympians competed.
“We truly gave it a great effort at all levels of the match, but unfortunately, PCC's experience overtook us, especially at the lower slots,” states head coach June Andrews. “Our players are still learning strategy and how to direct the points to our advantage. We are excited about the opportunity to play them again in the second round.”
Freshman Megan Nguyen put in a gutsy performance at the number 2 spot, winning all of her matches, including a 3 set victory over Pasadena City’s number 1, Rhea Zau.
In what turned out to be the most exciting match of the day, Erica Garcia Badaracco dropped a tough three-setter to Rhea Zou (21-15, 9-21, 22-24). Kathy Rodriguez was a late scratch and freshman Sophia Watson was inserted at the number 5 singles slot and managed 19 points against a very experienced player from Pasadena City. At the number 6 singles slot, Evelyn Dominguez pulled out a gutsy three-set win against Bingbing Ouyang (22-20, 19-21, 21-13).
The fact that the Olympians were close to pulling out a victory shows the significant improvement of the program under Andrews and assistant coach Thai Lay. “We’re pleased with our development at this stage,” adds Andrews. “We will continue to work hard and provide our athletes the best opportunity to win each and every match, no matter who the opponent is.”
The team will travel on Thursday, March 2 to take on DeAnza College, the reigning state champions.
Note from head coach June Andrews:
We appreciate all of the support and especially appreciated the men's volleyball team's support at Friday's match against PCC. Their presence really added to the excitement of the close match.