Varsity Badminton won 15-15 in a tiebreak at Palo Alto High School on Tuesday, March 17, in its fifth match of the season. Although MVHS was down 9-5 in the beginning of the match, the Matadors quickly caught up, with the score 15-14 before a final girls single match. MVHS freshman Chloe Lee won the game, tying the overall score 15-15 before winning on a tiebreaker.
Despite MVHS’ strong performance, the Matadors took some tough losses throughout the match according to sophomore and boys singles player Aidan Wong. Wong lost an intense and closely fought game with sets going 21-18 and 21-19. He attributes the loss to fatigue before the game.
“My opponent was just more consistent than me,” said Wong. “He was slightly injured, but because I didn’t train much before and he’s just really consistent, he won.”
Sophomore and boys singles player Sagar Maheshwari believes that the team’s determination throughout the match helped it power through its four-point deficit. Although he lost his game, Maheshwari says he sees the hard work that the entire team puts in every practice.
“I’m pretty disappointed I didn’t win, but it was a good experience overall,” Maheshwari said. “We tried our hardest and I’m glad we did win some good games and the overall match.”
Head coach Russell Okuno echoes Maheshwari’s view and adds that he sees the team as a whole to be very consistent. He says that for the past few years, MVHS and PAHS have remained at a very similar skill level, something that this narrow victory substantiates. He also hints that the MVHS badminton program will be very promising in the coming years.
“Of my 60 plus players, 25 of them are freshmen, so a lot of them just need experience in playing,” said Okuno. “A lot of them are pretty talented, but they just need a little game experience and that’s what they’re getting right here.”
