Last Wednesday, the coed badminton team fell to San Mateo High School with a score of 12-18. Despite the loss, the Bears celebrated their last home game and annual senior night in high spirits.
Before the game started, the ten seniors ran through the M-A banner while players and audience members cheered them on. They stood proudly next to colorful posters made by their peers that were emblazoned with their names and pictures. Afterward, coach Fitzgerald Geonzon presented personal speeches commemorating the seniors’ time on the badminton team, gave them custom T-shirts, and wished them well on their journey after their time on the M-A team came to a close.
Freshman Viet-Tran Do, who played the third string for girls’ singles, was the first one off the courts after she dominated her match. She won both sets with a comfortable score of 21-9 and 21-8, and attributed her strong victory to her unreturnable shots. “There were a lot of shots where I dropped the birdie off the serve into the opposite corner where my opponent couldn’t reach. I was pretty proud of those,” she said. “The season’s going really well for me. I’ve only had one other individual loss.”
Soon after, third-string mixed doubles climbed off the playing field. Sophomore Matilda Kratz and senior Ethan Phung won, although it was a close game with a score of 21-17 and 24-22. Kratz said, “The key to our success today was definitely having good communication with my partner and knowing what our strengths and weaknesses are. That way, we can both set ourselves up and make sure we’re ready and tight.”
However, not every court had an M-A victory. Senior Yue Wu-Jamison, who played second-string girls’ singles, lost the first set 14-21 but made it back in the second set 21-17. She narrowly lost the third set, leaving her match in San Mateo’s hands 17-21. “I lost today, but it was a really close game. I think I did good and did what I needed to do,” she commented.
Geonzon commented on the game, saying, “We made the game today very interesting. Everyone tried their hardest, and I’m pretty proud that they were able to keep it close the whole game. It’s a tough loss, but we’ll just get better next season.”
When asked about how she feels about her final season coming to an end, Wu-Jamison said, “It’s very sentimental, happy, and sad leaving the M-A Badminton team after these last few games. It’s a bit upsetting that it’s our last senior night, but I’m glad I got to celebrate it with my team. In the future, I’m planning on continuing badminton and creating a badminton club at my college, UC Merced.”
Senior Daniel Vengosh, who was one of the team’s captains and played boys’ singles first string, agreed, saying, “The ending is a little bittersweet. I’m happy with what I’ve done on the team and with my improvement overall, but I’m sad that this is my last home game. I wish it could have lasted a little longer, but all things have to come to an end, right?” He also said he wishes to find a badminton team at his college and that he hopes he “can find people there to play against and keep improving.”
Despite the loss the team had an incredible season and will look to use their abundance of talented underclassmen to continue their dominance next year.
