Metea Valley is once again hosting a girls badminton sectional with schools like Naperville Central, Hinsdale South, Argo, Wheaton North and West Chicago in the hunt for state qualifiers and the sectional plaque. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
The Mustangs rack up the team points in the doubles division
In the doubles bracket, Naperville Central’s pairing of sophomores Hannah Chu and Yinuo Zhang look to stay alive against Brittany Hagen and Ashlyn Kafer from Wheaton North. Each team with a loss already and in need of a win to keep their state hopes alive. Everyone working hard as the birdie soars across the court with several strong returns. The Redhawks end up with the point and a first set win 21-16.
But the Falcons respond and win the second set before taking control of set three to advance. Wheaton North moves on to face the loser of Ava Chvosta and Isabella Jarosz from Hinsdale South and Riya Alwala and Vamshika Bejawar from Metea Valley.
In the opening set, the Hornets snag a point following a nifty backhand that drops the birdie to the floor.
The Mustangs are able to overpower their opponents after a lengthy rally back and forth. Alwala finishes things off with a lefty smash as the Mustangs punch their state tickets and advance to the doubles championship 21-12, 21-13. Cvosta and Jarosz eventually earn a state spot by finishing in third place over Alessandra Angeles and Yazmin Castro from West Chicago.
In the other doubles semifinal, Taniya Agrawal and Nicole Liang, the two lone seniors on the Naperville Central varsity roster hope to advance to the championship match while Sri Battula and Devangi Kohli look to make the finals an all Metea Valley matchup.
The Redhawks are able to hang tough early, forcing the Mustangs into some uncharacteristic errors in the opening set.
However the top seeded Metea duo rights the ship as Kohli drops a backhand return right near the line for a point as the Mustangs win set one.
In the second set, Battula puts things away with a strong backhand smash that she pounds to the floor. Battula and Kohli are heading to the championship and to state.
An all Mustang doubles championship
Mustang and Mustang vs Mustang and Mustang in the doubles final. Early in the first set Bejawar gives her pairing the lead.
Later in the set Kohli puts the other Mustang pair back in front with a cross court backhand.
Lots of talent heading to state from this Metea Valley doubles group. In the end Battula and Kohli emerge as the sectional champions with a 21-12, 21-10 victory.
Metea Valley and Naperville Central dominate the singles division
Over to the singles division where Pragya Iyer from Metea Valley faces Megan Moreno from Naperville Central. The winner moves to the championship.
The Redhawk junior has state experience and shows no intimidation as she delivers a well placed drop shot over the net.
Iver returns the favor with an assist from the net as it trickles over for the point. The Mustang takes the win in straight sets and moves on to the singles final.
Another semifinal clash between the Mustangs and Redhawks. Moneesha Goduguchinta from Metea takes on Naperville Central freshman Zoey Tian.
The Mustang junior is looking to make the state cut for the first time in her career. She puts a return just inside the line for the point in the opening set.
Tian is not phased as she displays a veteran savvy to move her opponent around the court. She delivers a drop shot for the point and moves on to the championship match following a 21-7, 21-13 victory.
Goduguchinta is now in a win or go home situation against Lucy Old from Hinsdale South with the winner earning a trip to state. The Mustang takes the first set in a tight one 21-19, but Old lands a perfectly placed shot to even things up in the second set and force a third set to decide the winner.
In set three, Goduguchinta buckles down and takes care of business. She puts a return just out of reach and cruises to a third set victory 21-8 and punches her ticket to state and the third place match, meaning the entire Metea Valley roster has qualified for state.
In the singles third place match, Megan Moreno takes the victory for Naperville Central as she heads back to state for the second time in her career as she takes advantage of a worn out opponent to earn the third place medal.
Zoey Tian wins the singles sectional title
In the singles championship match it’s another battle of DVC foes with Pragya Iyer against Zoey Tian. We could see these young competitors squaring off for years to come.
A good first set rally sees each player making strong returns to track down the birdie. Eventually Iyer earns the point and she forces Tian to send one into the net.
Tian is able to pull away as she shows her agility to dig out several returns just over the net as she uses the drop shot well, eventually earning the point and winning the singles title 21-13, 21-7.
Metea Valley badminton wins the team sectional championship with 16 team points with Naperville Central in second place and Hinsdale South in third. The state meet at DeKalb awaits next weekend.
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