The Paly varsity badminton team finished the 2004 season with a 28-13 victory over the Wilcox Chargers last Thursday. Paly was led by the girls’ varsity team which dominated the Chargers, earning the Vikings 16 points and giving up none.

The 2004 season has been difficult for the Vikings, especially for the boys, due to the loss of both varsity singles players and the number one doubles pair.

"We lost Will Schairer and Kyle Yeates, our number one and two singles," Kara Prentice, the new head coach for the Vikings, said. "Unfortunately our singles players this year weren’t at the level we needed them to be in order to repeat previous successful seasons."

Fortunately for Paly, the team came together against Wilcox and finished the season on a high note. The entire varsity girls’ team won including seniors Sisi Chen in singles, and Julia Tien and Jessica Lee in doubles number one.

"Despite a disappointing season for the overall team, Jessica and I have done incredibly well, and we came into the final game ready to kick butt," Tien said. "We were able to play at the level we hoped to and were able to win both of our games, giving the team 4 points."

Tien, Lee, and Chen, and senior Jessica Guinn have had a spectacular season, contributing many points to Paly’s victories.

"This season has been very productive and I was able to win most of my games," Chen said. "With help from Jessica [Guinn], I have been able to improve my game and hope to go into CCS and advance at least a few rounds."

Also contributing to the Paly victory over the Chargers was varsity mixed one, seniors Daniel Evers and Sandy Zhao. Giving up only one point in their matches and winning four, the mixed duo was happy to finish the season on a high note after some difficult losses.

"Daniel and I haven’t been able to contribute as many points as we would have liked," Zhao said. "So we were pleased we could finish the season with a victory.

Juniors Damian Wang and George Wang played varsity boys’ doubles at number one and seniors James Oh and Marvin Change played at number two. Wang and Wang were able to come up with victories over the Chargers’ varsity doubles and are likely to qualify for CCS.

Unfortunately boys’ singles was unable to end its losing streak, junior Yao Yu at number one and senior Jeff O’Donohue at number two, lost all of their matches.

"I wasn’t expecting to win as number one," Yu said. "This year has been more about experience than winning for me and I hope that next year I can bring some points in for the team."

Although there is promise for boys’ varsity next year, the girls’ varsity will be in trouble. With every varsity girl player graduating it will be tough for the Vikings to have a breakthrough year and come out on top at the end of the season.

"It’s going to be difficult for us next year and I am encouraging many of the girls to train during the off season," Prentice said.
"Our girls have carried us this season bringing countless wins and hopefully a few of the JV girls will be able to step up and fill [varsitys’] shoes."

One such player is junior Stephanie Hsi, who will fill the varsity singles spot. With a few games of experience on varsity this year, Hsi hopes that with some training she can contend with the other players.

"It’s going to be difficult next year," His said. "I played a few varsity matches this year and all of the girls were at the top level."

With few returning varsity players and many people moving up, the 2005 Paly badminton season will be a struggle for the team to maintain the team’s reputation.