BG's Nisbet twins take unexpected second

Unseeded Ashton and Heather Nisbet ended up in an unexpected place Saturday at the girls state badminton tournament.

The sophomore twins from Buffalo Grove tore through the field all the way to the doubles title match at Eastern Illinois University's Lantz Gym in Charleston.

The Nisbets earned the school's highest badminton finish as they lost 21-12, 21-15 to No. 1 seed Deepa Ramadurai and Anjylla Foster of team runner-up Hinsdale South.

"We're both pretty much still in shock and it hasn't really hit us yet," Heather Nisbet said.

"I couldn't even imagine this," Ashton said. "Last year we didn't make it and came down to watch Christina (Linden) and Kate (Meyers).

"Watching the finals was so cool. This year, it's crazy."

Defending team champion Fremd finished fifth as junior Jenna Langhorst took third in singles.

The Nisbets weren't the only thrill for BG coach Chris Van Grondelle, whose sophomore daughter Katie teamed with Nikki Patel to finish fourth in doubles for Palatine. Stevenson's Samantha Wei and Kerry Sullivan took third.

And senior Ashley Lepcin battled back through the consolation bracket to finish fifth and give Wheeling its first badminton medalist.

The Nisbets were second at the sectional to Wei and Sullivan and took third in the Mid-Suburban League meet.

"We didn't have a lot of expectations, which was kind of nice," Heather said. "We'd come into every match knowing the other team was thinking, 'OK, who are they.'

"We wanted to prove we belonged with some of the top teams in the state. We knew we had it in us all along."

So did Chris Van Grondelle, who said the key to the Nisbets' run was smarter play. When they avenged an earlier loss to Lockport's Kaitlin Brassil and Kayla Salomone in Friday's second round they had a good feeling.

"This whole tournament we changed our whole mindset," Ashton said. "We decided to stay calm.

"One of our biggest problems was staying cool and collected on the court. We just couldn't do it."

But they did by avenging two losses to Wei-Sullivan to reach the championship.

"They took control right away," Ashton said of the Hinsdale South champs. "They're a very smart team and they got it to where we weren't."

Langhorst, who was fifth last year, had aspirations of trying to keep Hinsdale Central's Karishma Kollipara from tying an IHSA record with a third state title.

But Langhorst lost 21-19, 21-14 to Lincoln-Way Central's Kelly Byar in the semifinals. She rebounded to beat Stephanie Chang of Naperville North for third.

"I think I could have played better and I think I didn't use the strategy (coach Bob) Hanson told me to use," Langhorst said of the semifinals. "I'm happy with third. I thought I played a lot better than I did in the semis."

Lepcin trailed Fremd's Erica Lee 20-15 in the third game of their consolation quarterfinal. But Lepcin rallied for a 16-21, 21-14, 23-21 win and took her next two matches to give Wheeling coach Carl Watschke his first medalist.

"I was hoping for it and I wanted to give it to him and do it for myself," Lepcin said. "I wanted to step up and show that somebody could do it."

Lepcin said the key against Lee was playing it safe in a situation where one error would have ended her medal hopes.

"I had to keep myself calm," Lepcin said. "It was hard but it worked."

Katie Van Grondelle and Patel lost to the Hinsdale South champs in the semis but became Palatine's first medalists since 2002.

"My daughter and Heather and Ashton are such good friends," Chris Van Grondelle said. "They were over crying and hugging with the rest of us. It was neat to see Palatine and BG and the camaraderie, really from the whole MSL."