By Marc Anthony Martinez
The badminton team were swept in singles and doubles competition against Pasadena City College Friday, continuing their six-game losing streak.
The Huskies had a hard time against Pasadena due to the amount of experience on the team. The Huskies team consists of a majority of first-year players, some who had never played badminton before the start of the season, whereas Pasadena’s team consisted of many players who had high school experience.
The Huskies single players had rallied in some of their respective games, but little mistakes started adding up and Pasadena was able to capitalize on them.
At times, the Huskies either hit the shuttlecock onto the net or just missed it and waved at it with the racket as it hit the floor.
When they were playing doubles, the Huskies looked in sync with each other and had great chemistry.
The Huskies ended up hitting it short at times and were not getting the shuttlecock over the net or not serving the right way, costing them points.
Despite losing all their games played against Pasadena, coach Qui Nguy was proud of his team.
Nguy said he told his players, “Have fun, try hard. You’re playing against the number one team,” smiling even when his team was defeated.
The games began on six different courts, with each one of them hosting a singles game.
As the singles games finished, some of the players jumped to their doubles competition.
On two of the courts, Pasadena players started looking at the vents on top of them and talked to each other about how they could feel the air.
This caused them to adjust how they played, showing their experience being able to do so.
One of the Pasadena players even closed a door where the equipment room was because it was affecting her play.
The Huskies did not seem to mind it, and even when some of the Pasadena players mentioned it to them, the Huskies kept on playing.
With doubles games happening, it freed up some of the courts and players were able to stay loose by practicing with each other.
In between games, some players sat down and watched the other games that were going on, until their next match started.
One of these players, Stephanie Fuentes, sat with her mother and her sister on the bleachers across the courts where the players were sitting.
Fuentes’ mother rooted for her in every match she played, whether it was doubles or singles. Every time Fuentes earned a point, her mother and sister cheered.
When Nguy saw his team staying loose on the court, he took it as an opportunity to coach and answer any questions.
Whenever the players switched sides, Nguy talked to them, giving them as much advice as he could offer.
Nguy walked around talking to players, as well as talking to Fuentes’ mom about how she had been doing this year.
Nguy talked to the Pasadena coach and collected the scores when each game ended.
Once the last game ended, the Huskies started taking the nets apart from the side that was not in use anymore.
The Huskies then waited for the last game to finish, and once it was over, the two opposing players hit the ends of the Badminton racket as a show of respect and congratulated each other on the game.
The Huskies will face Compton this Friday, the last game of the season before the Conference Tournament starts on April 28.