ST. CHARLES – The St. Charles East girls badminton team dominated both doubles and singles play as they beat St. Charles North, 11-4, on Thursday.
The Saints won four of the five doubles matches and seven of the 10 singles matches in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division contest.
East’s Jill Patel and Kelsey Straumann led the way in both doubles and singles play.
The senior duo won the first doubles match over North Stars Emily Bell and Jessica Foor in two games.
Patel and Bell paired up again in the first singles match which Patel won in two games.
Straumann faced Foor in the second singles match, which Straumann needed only two games to win.
“Overall, it went well for the varsity team,” said East coach Trisha Denorio, who was on the sideline for the first time after a maternity leave. “But Patel and Strautman’s play stood out. They did a great job of moving the bird on the court. They moved their opponents and were able to control the court.”
Patel said good communication between her and Straumann was key in the doubles win.
“We’ve been partners for four years,” Patel said. “We’re really good at knowing where each other is on the court and we work together.”
“I was trying to hit deep court and trying to keep her back,” Patel said about her singles win over Bell. “Once in a while I tried to drop it and switch things up here and there to try and move her.”
“I’m really proud of us and how we did today,” Straumann said.
The senior also tried to keep her singles opponent in the back of the court.
“I was just hitting it far back as I could and I tried dropping a little,” Straumann said. “I know there are some things I could’ve done differently. I could have smashed more.”
“Our girls play hard – that’s all I can ask of them,” said Michael Smith, North’s coach. “But we came up on the wrong side of it. It’s a young team with only two seniors. The rest are juniors, sophomores and with a strong class of freshmen.”
Smith lauded the play of Poojita Gundala. The junior won the ninth singles match and with teammate Anna Garcia, won the fifth doubles match for the North Stars.
“She won at doubles and singles. The only North Star to do so,” Smith said.
The highest singles match North won was fourth singles, where Kait Hartig beat Hiral Patel in three games.
The North Stars also took the 10th singles match.