The badminton team suffered a tough, 20-10 defeat against the South San Francisco Warriors on Tuesday evening.
Both teams emerged from their huddles with spirit, and the game got off to a tight start. Boys singles third seed freshman Paul Croidieu won his match in two sets, 21-19, 21-13, while senior second seed Henry Behroozi and junior first seed Adam Erlebacher both came up short, 21-7, 21-16 and 21-7, 21-10, respectively.
Girls singles dominated the Warriors, with senior third seed Katelyn Chao, junior second seed Viet-Tran Do, and freshman first seed Yimeng Cai each pulling out decisive victories.
In boys doubles, third-seeded senior Sacha Deb and freshman Jordan Lee suffered a bitter, 21-7, 21-5 defeat. Seniors Nathaniel Fowler and Titan Mendoza put up a tough fight in the second seed match, winning the first set 22-20 but losing both the second and third by just three points, 21-18. The match intensified when South San Francisco called in line judges after a dispute over out-of-bounds calls.
“I was a little disappointed that we lost, but it was a close game,” Fowler said.
First-seed seniors Alex Bissell and Burke Montague-Alamin were defeated in a narrow, 23-21 first set. Their opponents managed to build momentum and break away in the second set, causing the Bears to lose 21-13.
Juniors Annika Furukawa and Jenna Lee managed a 21-16, 21-19 win in their third-seeded girls doubles match, but freshmen second seeds Anna Du and Stella Huang conceded to the Warriors after two sets, 21-11, 21-15.
Junior Nicholas Chan and senior Claire Chang, the third-seed mixed doubles team, lost in a difficult 21-13, 21-19 match to the Warriors. After winning their first set 21-18, second-seed freshman Jack Trevor and sophomore Amy Tram fell behind 21-12 in the second set, but clinched a narrow victory with a 21-17 third set.
The overall lead flipped back and forth over the course of the game. Teammates gathered to watch the final two matches—first-seeded mixed and girls doubles—both of which the Bears needed to secure the victory.
Seniors Addison Youngblood and Weycene Yang battled hard in their mixed doubles match, bouncing back to tie the score but ultimately losing 23-21 in the first set. They struggled to regain momentum in the second set and fell 21-8.
Freshman Kylie Lam and senior Monika Pataki played an intense match, winning the second set but just barely losing in a 21-19 nail-biter third set. After struggling to pull off decisive wins, the Bears fell 20-10 to the Warriors.
“I was working on not messing up and just keeping it consistent,” Pataki said. “We’re mainly working on offense, which is pretty fun.”
The Bears will face the Jefferson High School Grizzlies away on Thursday at 4 p.m.
