Langhorst, Lee a perfect pair

Singles standouts Jenna Langhorst and Erica Lee don't get many opportunities to combine their talents for Fremd's badminton team.

When they do they're unbeatable.

In Friday's first day of the Mid-Suburban League tournament at Buffalo Grove, Langhorst and Lee improved to 9-0 at No. 1 doubles with a 21-16, 21-15 over BG's Ashton and Heather Nisbet (24-3).

"Every point we went all-out; it was no-holds barred," Lee said of beating last year's state doubles runner-up. "It was a great game and we had a lot of fun."

It was the first time Langhorst and Lee, who won last year's No. 2 title, played the Nisbets in doubles.

"We were really aggressive," Langhorst said. "We really wanted it really bad and gave it our all."

Fremd advanced all five of its doubles teams to Friday's title matches and goes into today's singles competition starting at 8:30 a.m. at BG with a 23-20 lead on the hosts.

Alice Liu and Annie Huang won at No. 3 and Carlita Shen and Steph Kim won at No. 4 for Fremd in its quest for a third straight MSL title.

"The unknown was Jenna and Erica because the Nisbets are great," said Fremd coach Bob Hanson. "It was probably one of the most enjoyable matches I've seen in a long time."

Palatine's Katie and Maggie Van Grondelle improved to 33-5 as they took third in a loaded No. 1 field with a 21-9, 21-8 win over Wheeling's Ausrine Rakauskaite and Jennifer Moss.

"We were excited to come out and get another chance to play them," Maggie said of avenging a loss last week.

"We're happy," Katie said. "Erica and Jenna are very good players and we had a good (semifinal) match with them."

BG's No. 2 team of senior Kate Meyers and sophomore Michelle Byjos improved to 35-1 with a 21-17, 21-4 win over Fremd's Claire Lee and Jackie Tiangco.

"The second game was the best we've played," Meyers said.

"We were motivated and pumped up," Byjos said.

Prospect seniors Kylene Wolfe and Maggie Stake improved to 10-1 in the MSL at No. 5 doubles with a title.