De Anza sweeps Pasadena City for third 3C2A Badminton Championship in four years
SAN FRANCISCO -- De Anza College swept the first six singles matches en route to a decisive 11-0 victory over Pasadena City College in the 3C2A Women's Badminton Dual Team State Championships on Thursday at City College of San Francisco…
Coast Conference singles champion Mailan Hoang Vuong of De Anza opened the No. 1 match with a 21-5, 24-22 win over Janet Diec of Pasadena. Continuing with straight set wins for the Mountain Lions were Makavla Than, Natelee Lam, Jenny Thai, and Karrina Chow. Only in the No. 6 match did it take a third set for Trinity Nguyen to get a victory.
In doubles, the De Anza No. 2 team of Thai and Chow capped the title run with a thrilling 21-14, 21-19 victory over Anh Tran and Diec to clinch the team crown. Earlier, the No. 1 DeAnza doubles team of Vuong and Lam had won, 19-9, 21-13, over Beatris Tzou and Yolanda Huang of Pasadena. De Anza's No. 3 team of Makayla Than and Trinity Nguyen had also recorded a quick win.
"I was really nervous," said Thai, a sophomore out of San Jose's Oak Grove High School.
"It's been a long time coming. We've been really pushing each other for this."
It was the third team title for De Anza in the last four seasons of competition. But the Mountain Lions had missed the finals last year, when CCSF won the Coast title.
Current host San Francisco defeated Pasadena, 12-7, in the 2024 state finals. Only the top north and south teams compete on the first day of the championships, which continue Friday and Saturday with singles and doubles competition for student-athletes from the ten participating teams.
Coast Conference champion De Anza finished a perfect 15-0 season. South Coast titlist Pasadena ended 10-3 (including 10-0 in league), still the only other team in the state with double-digit victories this year. All three Lancers losses were to the Mountain Lions, but this was the first shutout.
De Anza coach Mark Landefeld has now won five state team titles with perfect records, including back-to-back in 2013-14.
(Fred Baer, CCCSIA)
