Saratoga lost three consecutive games over the past two weeks against Monta Vista, Wilcox and Gunn, three of the league’s strongest teams. All three games were lost by a score of 13 – 17.

“We were really close [against Monta Vista and Wilcox],” said senior varsity girls’ doubles player Laura Lin. “If we had just won one more varsity game, we would have come out on top.”

Coach Peter Chen introduced a new tactic for the line-up of the players for all three games, using a new line-up for each opponent. Against the Matadors, his strategy was to concentrate more heavily on the doubles’ and mixed doubles’ teams. Although it was a good idea, the team fell short and lost more games than was anticipated.

“We were hoping to surprise Monta Vista, Gunn and Wilcox with our new line-up,” said senior varsity boys’ doubles player Andrew Shyu. “Unfortunately, a lot of their players had improved over the season, which we were not expecting.”

Another disadvantage during the two most recent away games against Monta Vista and Wilcox was that players had trouble getting accustomed to the different gyms of the two schools.

“It was hard to see the birdie at Monta Vista and the nets at Wilcox were higher than the ones we were used to practicing with,” said Lin. “We lost a lot of easy points, which was disappointing.”

The match against Gunn was also a close loss. The line-up was changed as a result of injuries and absences of several key players.
Despite the many losses, the Falcons managed to pull through with a victory over Lynbrook on April 10, an accomplishment that has not been achieved for three years.

“It felt great to beat Lynbrook, since they are well known for being a really good team,” said Shyu. “We went into the game with a strong mindset, and that helped us pull through.”

The Falcons played Homestead and Lynbrook this week, but because of printing deadlines, scores were not available for this issue.
League finals and Central Coast Section for badminton will take place later this month