It’s time for our first badminton matchup of the year as Naperville Central hosts Neuqua Valley. The Wildcats are coming off a third-place finish at State last season, as both sides look to spark momentum early on in 2025. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Neuqua Valley badminton wins four of the five doubles matchups against Naperville Central
Starting with the one-doubles matchup between Wildcat’s Luna Han and Kanyanat Vajworarat and Redhawk’s Zoey Tian and Megan Moreno. Neuqua does well in this matchup, and Han places this one just over the net for a point. The wildcats win this one in two sets by a score of 21-8 and 21-13.
In the two doubles match, the Wildcat duo of Hannah George and Nishitha Reddy play Centrals Hannah Chu and Yinuo Zhang. This play was one of their points as the spike from Neuqua gets past Chu and Zhang.
In the third doubles match, Neuqua would continue their winning ways. Amber Shi and perform well in this matchup, as they defeat Central’s Shyria Kunnanath and Audrey Cheng in two sets. They take the match in straight sets, 21-14 and 21-6.
The Wildcats soar to a 14-1 win against the host Redhawks
Let’s move on to some singles action and start it with Neuqua’s Nishitha Reddy and Naperville’s Zoey Tian. Reddy paints the backline for a point before Tian just can’t get it over the net. Reddy takes it in two sets, 21-10 and 21-13.
In the two singles match, Neuqua’s Hannah George takes on Naperville Central’s Megan Moreno. George starts well with this fiery shot in set one to win it 21-6. Both sides play from the back here in set two before the Wildcat grazes the net and gets the point! George wins this matchup after a 21-3 set-two victory.
Let’s close out the evening with three singles. Neuqua’s Luna Han takes on Naperville’s Hannah Chu, and she acrobatically gets this point. Then, Han puts some power on this swing before playing it short for another point. She wins this one 21-3, 21-6 as Neuqua dominates the DVC opener. The Wildcats win 14 of the 15 matches to start the conference season 1-0.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page
