Metea Valley badminton looks to right the ship after losing to Neuqua Valley a week ago. The task is difficult for the Mustangs as they travel to Naperville North, who comes in off a win over Naperville Central and looks to add another DVC victory to its total. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
The Huskies look strong starting in doubles
We start off with one doubles as Huskies Paige Xu and Rakshita Ruparel take on Mustangs Saavni Gupta and Medha Kotagiri. Early on, Gupta hits a short hit that Xu covers just in time, but Kotagiri puts it right over the head of Xu to secure a Mustang point.
The Huskies get redemption later with a lengthy rally for the point. Both sides hit clear shots well towards the back of the bounds, until Xu surges forward, landing a cross-court shot down to make it the Huskies’ advantage.
Both sides go again later in another back-and-forth rally. Gupta tries to catch North off guard with a forehand shot the other way, but Ruparel saves the point, keeping the rally going. Both sides would continue until Xu smashes it right off Kotagiri’s racket and onto the floor. The Huskies claim the match with straight set wins of 21-15 and 21-14.
North continues to control the matchup in singles play
Moving on to two singles, Metea looks to rebound with Ganu Tanaya facing off against North’s Kelly Hu. Just like the doubles match before them, the two engage in an early battle for the point. Tanaya hits a backhanded drop shot that Hu catches in time. Tanaya goes backhanded again but this time hits beyond the baseline, handing Hu an early point.
Tanaya would strike back later as she makes quick reads of Hu’s shots and sends in a kill that Hu swings and misses. The Mustang gets the point, keeping the match close.
But Hu holds her own as the two go the long game route until she reads this backhander from Tanaya like a book, rushing towards the net, and tipping the birdie down for the point. She wins in straight set scores of 21-6 and 21-5.
The last match is the one singles contest as Gupta is up for Metea again, facing off against Huskie Erica Lin. What appears to be a long-distance game early quickly goes short distance. The two exchange drop shots, but Lin reads Gupta’s and blocks it from going over, handing North another point. Lin would have her way with Gupta all match long, later getting this impressive backhanded cross-court shot to land in the back corner as she secures straight set wins of 21-5 and 21-2.
The Huskies remain near the top of the DVC standings
Naperville North sweeps across all varsity matches with a 15-0 win over Metea Valley. Next up for North is the Senior Night match against Neuqua Valley on Tuesday, while Metea wraps up the DVC regular season at Naperville Central.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
