Huang has Fremd in title hunt
Fremd senior Annie Huang personified the expect the unexpected nature of Friday’s first day of the state badminton tournament at Eastern Illinois in Charleston.
The Vikings’ two highest seeds in singles and doubles suffered early stunning upsets, but Huang kept them in title and trophy contention as the 13-16 seed shocked second-seed Andrea McNally of Hinsdale South 21-13, 21-19 in a third-round match.
“I was really surprised, to be honest,” said Huang, a four-time state qualifier who improved to 42-3. “I played second singles the whole season and I was barely seeded and McNally was supposed to win.”
That helped Fremd go into today’s finals in a tie for the lead with Stevenson at 10 points. Huang is the only player still alive in the championship bracket for the Vikings while the Patriots have singles top seed Wan Wan Liu and the doubles team of Emily Cai and Yein Lee still playing in the championship bracket.
But the Vikings’ second-seeded doubles team of Kelly Owens and Ji Young Seo and 3-4 singles seed Angela Wu recovered from first- and second-round upset losses respectively to stay alive in the consolation bracket along with their doubles team of Mayu Sugikawa and Rina Seo.
“They all rebounded and stayed together as a team and continued to fight,” said Fremd coach Bob Hanson, whose team won state titles in 2007 and 2009.
“After the first doubles team lost we all came together and huddle and had a pep talk,” Huang said. “We’re all fighting for each other.”
Particularly Huang as she avenged an earlier three-set loss to McNally. Now Huang will try to repeat last year’s three-set state win over Ellen Lin of Naperville North in today’s quarterfinals.
“I’m really proud of Annie,” Hanson said. “She’s been a leader for our team all year and she stepped up. I’m really proud of her effort.”
Prospect’s 3-4 seeded doubles team of Shea Gallus and Noreen Caporusso had little trouble in three two-set victories Friday. They will face Madeleine Vaccaro and Neha Chandan of Bradley-Bourbonnais in today’s quarterfinals.
Palatine senior Maggie Van Grondelle also overcame her back injury and a tough three-set loss to Wheaton Warrenville South’s Rachel Anderson in the third round at singles to stay alive for a fourth state medal in the consolation bracket. Van Grondelle, who won the state doubles title last year, suffered the injury during last week’s sectional tournament.
“She got loosened up and the adrenaline was flowing and she played well,” said BG coach and Maggie’s father Chris Van Grondelle. “Anderson played a tremendous match and was very consistent.
“Maggie is going to try to tough it out. She was a warrior and I’m happy she got the opportunity to get going.”
If Van Grondelle beats Seplowin and Wu beats McNally they would meet in the consolation semifinals. BG’s Kelsey Henrikson and Jenny Krewer lost a third-round three-setter and face Sugikawa and Seo in today’s consolation opener.
Prospect’s Allison and Kiley Walsh lost in three sets in the third round to Stevenson’s Cai and Lee and were eliminated in their first consolation-bracket match.
Naperville North is third at 9.5 points and Downers Grove North and WW South are tied for fourth with 8.5 points.
“Stevenson is playing great … but as we’ve seen at state, anything can happen on any given day,” Hanson said.