The Lancers badminton team was seeking revenge against East Los Angeles College (ELAC) Friday at Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium but ultimately fell short, losing 15-6.
The Lancers faced ELAC earlier this month and lost 14-7. With this recent loss, the Lancers have allowed the ELAC Huskies to win each of the last four meetings between the two teams. This loss gives the Huskies a commanding two-game lead in the standings, threatening to end PCC’s streak of winning five consecutive South Coast Conference titles.
“This loss definitely puts ELAC in the drivers seat for the conference title,” coach Bill Sanchez admitted. “We need to keep improving on a daily basis.”
Sanchez had concerns that this year’s team was young and lacked experience in matches near the beginning of the season.
“ELAC is very good and deep in talent,” Sanchez said. “They are just better than us right now. We will improve, it’s just going to take time.”
Carmina Ortiz defeated her first opponent Yuki Tai in a 3-set match, but the win did not come easy. The game became quick and intense as each player was trying to figure out the other’s next move.
“The first time I played [Yuki] I lost,” Ortiz said. “It felt really good being able to beat her.”
As teammates cheered from the sidelines during a quick break, Sanchez told Ortiz to “stay strong”, and that’s exactly what she did.
“She [Yuki] would drop it at the net and it tires you out having to go back and forth,” Ortiz said. “But I learned to read her moves and tried to hit near the net.”
Alejandra Palacios was also victorious in her first match against Shaojin Wei. Palacios found the right corners to hit the birdie and was persistent in making Wei work for any point she received.
“I made all my serves, so that helped a lot,” Palacios said. “Each game picked up and became more challenging, but I was good at moving around the court.”
The Lancers won five of the 12 singles games, but went 1-4 in doubles. The points received from the doubles match came from sisters Ying Wen Lin and Ying Hong Lin, who defeated Chumeng Cheng and Han Le in two matches.
“Our kids are fighters. We will make some noise before the season ends,” Sanchez said.
The Lancers take on El Camino College Compton April 4 at 2 p.m. in Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.
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