Fremd, Buffalo Grove gearing up for May

Using the badminton regular season as a primer for the postseason is understandable for Fremd and Buffalo Grove.

The top two programs in the Mid-Suburban League have been accustomed to success in May. And they both appear to be ready for more after Fremd won the crossover match 12-3 Thursday at Buffalo Grove.

Fremd’s dynamic singles duo of Angela Wu and Annie Huang allowed only 10 and 17 points respectively in their victories. And Buffalo Grove’s No. 1 doubles team of Jenny Krewer and Kelsey Henrikson served notice they will be a pair to be reckoned with after a big victory before it hosts the MSL tournament next weekend.

That’s when Fremd will go for its seventh straight league title. Wu and Huang also allowed only 11 points in their No. 2 doubles victory.

“It’s been going great,” said Fremd coach Bob Hanson, whose team won the MSL West. “The girls are playing well and it’s the hardest schedule we’ve played in our history. We’re seeing the best teams we could to get ready for conference, sectionals and state.”

Wu has the comfort of nearly two full seasons of varsity experience after finishing second in the MSL tourney at No. 1 singles last year to Palatine senior Maggie Van Grondelle.

“We have a good team going here and I think we can do really well,” Wu said. “We have good doubles teams and as a team we can get a lot of points together. Conference should be fun.”

Huang has also benefitted from playing some of the state’s tougher No. 1 singles players in weekend tournaments during her fourth varsity season.

“Physically I’m more prepared and I worked a lot harder in the offseason and did a lot more running,” Huang said. “My movement is a lot more smooth on the court. It’s my fourth year and with that experience I know how to play the game a lot more.”

East champion BG has one of its youngest teams in recent years but Krewer and Henrikson showed they are ready to continue the program’s tradition of downstate doubles success. The first-year senior duo improved to 21-3 with a 21-18, 21-19 win over the returning state duo of Kelly Owens and Ji Young Seo.

“It really helps our confidence because they’re a really good team,” Krewer said.

“It was one of our better games and we had fun,” Henrikson said. “We’ve had our ups and down as new partners but near the end of the season we’ve figured out how to play with each other.”

At exactly the right time.

“We’ve tried to build for the end of the year,” said BG coach Chris Van Grondelle. “May is where it counts.”