Consistent play in all categories leads MVHS to an easy win.

The MVHS badminton team hosted Cupertino High School on April 9 and came out on top, winning all but two matches.

Boys Singles:

Junior Anand Kumar had a slow start to his match. The first few minutes were marked with multiple service changes and a stagnant scoreboard, but things slowly got started as Kumar picked up the pace and began attacking the bird. Kumar finished the first set with a score of 15-8 and came back faster in the second set to finish 15-3.

“I didn’t play as well as I would’ve liked, but I guess I won, so that’s a good thing,” Kumar said.

Final scores for all Boys Singles matches:

Anand Kumar: 15-8, 15-3

Ian Lee: 15-6, 15-5

Harrison Ding: 15-0, 15-0

Girls Singles:

For senior Indira Purushothaman, the first set went by with ease as she finished with a bagel. The second set did not go by as smoothly, but she still came out on top with a score of 15-8.

“I started testing new shots in the second set — some of them worked, some of them didn’t,” Purushothaman said.

Final scores for all Girls Singles matches:

Indira Purushothaman: 15-0, 15-8

Stephanie Lam: 15-1, 15-2

Varsha Kumar: 15-3, 15-8

Boys Doubles:

Senior Ryan Ke and sophomore Justin Ma attracted the biggest audience of the afternoon during the final of the boys doubles matches.The two Matadors played a fast-paced and dominant game against the Pioneers. Despite being partnered together for the first time, the chemistry between the two was evident as each was able to compensate for the mistakes of the other. They finished both of their sets 15-1.

“I think we’re better than the other team and we were able to show that — and we ended up winning pretty easily,” Ke said.

Final scores for all boys doubles matches:

Ryan Ke and Justin Ma: 15-1, 15-1

Nick Chen and Eric Lin: 15-10, 15-6

Victor Lin and Alex Chu: 12-15, 10-15

Girls Doubles:

Sisters senior Erika Sporkert and freshman Madeline Sporkert didn’t start off their match very confidently. But as the match went on, they found their rhythm and completed the sets with ease. They eventually recognized the inequality of skill levels in their opponents and took advantage to continue their perfect season streak with scores of 15-3 and 15-1. Being sisters plays well into their chemistry, which is evident both on and off of the court.

“It’s good that we’re really close. If one of us messes up then we laugh it off,” Erika said.

“—and then we win the next one,” Madeline replied.

Final scores for all Girls Doubles matches:

Erika Sporkert and Madeline Sporkert: 15-3, 15-1

Jessica Chen and Karen Xu: 15-2, 15-6

Krystal Ng and Lena Chen: 15-6, 10-15, 15-12

Mixed Doubles:

The scoreboard remained even throughout the first few minutes during senior Eric Liu and junior Nancy Chang’s match. Hitting the shuttlecock on the far side of the court became a problem, as the two started losing to the Pioneers. They eventually rallied back to win their match in three sets with a score of 15-6, 10-15 and 15-3.

“I personally thought our match was supposed to be easy — but today was a bad day,” Liu said.

Final scores for all Mixed Doubles matches:

Eric Liu and Nancy Chang: 15-6, 10-15, 15-3

Roy Wang and Esther Lin: 15-12, 15-12

Daniel Chen and Sharlena Tien: 4-15, 6-15

The Matadors next home game is against Los Altos High School on April 23.