Metea Valley badminton travels to Naperville Central, where Redhawks Nicole Liang and Taniya Agrawal are both honored on Senior Night. Central’s coming off a 13-2 loss against Naperville North, while Metea also enters after a 13-2 loss, but against Neuqua Valley. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Metea Valley badminton and Naperville Central begin in doubles play
Starting with One Doubles is Sri Battula and Devangi Kohli from Metea against Megan Moreno and Zoey Tian from Central.
Both teams come out swinging as Battula sends the birdie flying to Redhawk territory to score a point.
The Mustang duo is on a roll at the start as Kohli slams the birdie in between Moreno and Tian for another point.
Both teams go back and forth with the Birdie as Kohli sends it to Megan Moreno who returns it to Mustang territory
The match continues as Tian scores a point for the Redhawks with this hit.
The Mustangs are not done yet as Kohli uses a strong forehand to place the biridie into Redhawk territory.
This matchup goes into three sets as Moreno finishes the job with the tip of the racket. The Redhawks win the last two sets by the scores of 21-16 and 21-15.
We go to two doubles with Redhawk Hannah Chu and Nicole Liang against Mustang Riya Alwala and Vamshika Bejawar.
Both teams come out with back-and-forth returns until the Mustang duo gets a point by slamming the birdie back to the Redhawks.
Central responds to the call as senior Nicole Liang delivered a hard shot that would score the Redhawk duo a point.
However, it’s The Mustangs that would deliver the final blow with a backhand shot. Alwala and Bejawar win in straight sets 21-14, 21-18.
Naperville Central badminton looks to add on
Next up is one singles with Redhawk Zoey Tian and Mustang Sri Battula.
Both players come out with some powerful and long-distance shots until Tian overpowers the Birdie as it falls in front of Battula.
Later on, Battula responds as she heads towards the net and hits the birdie back to Redhawk territory for a point.
At the end of the match, Tian seals the deal and takes it in straight sets, 21-8, 21-11.
Moreno wins but Metea Valley badminton spoils Central’s Senior Night
To the final match in two singles with Central’s Megan Moreno and Metea’s Pragya Iyer.
Moreno starts out strong as she hits the birdie high in the air, and gets it to land safely.
Iyer gets to work and does the same thing as her opponent, by placing one perfect inside the playing surface. Iyer takes set one 21-15.
Iyer continues to score in this match as she makes a quick shot for the point as her teammates cheer her on.
In the end, however, it’s Moreno who pulls away in three sets, including a 22-20 win in set two before a 21-17 win in the final frame. Despite a good finish for the Redhawks in singles, Metea Valley badminton spoils Central’s senior night by a team score of 11-4.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
