Badminton continues DVC play at Naperville North with the visiting Naperville Central Redhawks competing in the crosstown rivalry against the Huskies. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
The Redhawks earn a win after tough battle in one doubles
Starting with the one doubles it’s North’s Abby Wang and Rakshita Ruparel facing off against Zoey Tian and Megan Moreno from Naperville Central.
The Huskies get off to a good start with Ruparel hitting the birdie over the head of both Redhawks, which lands within the lines for a point.
The Huskies continue to fight in a flurry of rapid-fire rallies with all four players getting involved. Wang with a line drive return before Ruparel scores again as she digs out a drop shot and comes back with a smash, smacking the birdie past the Redhawks.
Late in the first set, the Redhawks gain the edge as Moreno lines a smash that gets returned, but Tian taps the birdie over as this time the drop shot falls for the point. Central wins the first set 21-18.
In the second set, Megan Moreno plays near the front and takes control with a series of returns, including one that splits the Huskies for the point. Naperville Central wins in two sets 21-18, 21-12.
A three-set battle decides two doubles
Moving on to the two doubles with North’s Varsha Parthasarathy and Paula Sun against Central’s Hanna Chu and Yinuo Zhang.
The Redhawks get the birdie flying with Chu firing a shot past the Huskies to get the set rolling. Central takes the opening set 21-16.
Later in set two, Paula Sun smashes a shot past the Redhawks from the back to score a point. The Huskies take the second set 21-16.
Several back-and-forth returns from both teams in set three with Zhang backing up to send a lob shot way over Parsthasarathy to get a Redhawk point.
However, unlike one doubles, it’s the Huskies who come out on top in two doubles with Sun tapping her return over the net to end the third set by the score of 21-9.
One and two singles decided by tiebreakers
Moving on to one singles with Kelly Hu from Naperville North and Central’s Zoey Tian.
The Huskie sophomore gets the match soaring with a backhand shot to get on the board for a point.
Tian responds to the shot as she darts her return down for the point. The Redhawk takes the first set 23-21.
In set two, however, Kelly Hu picks up the pace and pounces on the lob from Tian, finding open space to slam home the point. The Huskie takes it 21-11 to force a third set.
The end of the third set sees Kelly Hu and Zoey Tian with good returns as Kelly Hu seals the deal with a lob shot to the back corner over Tian, resulting in a three-set win.
Continuing the trend of back-and-forth battles is Redhawk Megan Moreno and Huskie Abby Wang in two singles.
A marathon first set ends with the Huskie sophomore getting the best of her opponent by firing a hard liner that Moreno can not corral for the point. Wang takes the set 26-24!
Moreno is not deterred as she continues to battle, racking up points to get the edge and even things up with a set two 21-17 win.
In the third set, Moreno gets the early edge with the flick of her wrist as the lob lands in bounds for the point, as the Redhawk hopes to complete the comeback.
Moreno serves in set three. A couple of returns later, Wang hits her return from the back and hooks it just out of reach of the Redhawk. Wang takes the lead 21-20.
Naperville Central badminton takes the team victory
The stamina tank is just about empty at this point. Moreno’s return is just wide to the left as Wang earns the hard-fought three-set victory. Naperville North badminton takes home the crosstown win by a team score of 12-3 over Naperville Central.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page.
