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Xavier's badminton team enjoys a moment with a group of dads who pained themselves blue in a show of support. (Photos by Sr. Lynn Winsor). | |
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All the ingredients were there for a festive evening.
Shiny silver bows in the Xavier Prep badminton players’
hair, a large vociferous group of supporters, and the Blue Man Group (or
reasonable facsimile) stopped by at Phoenix Sunnyslope for Thursday’s (Oct. 27)
Division I state championship match against Gilbert Perry.
Now if the Gators could only hold up their end of the
bargain.
For most of the night, fans were on the edge of their seats
as the No. 1-seeded Gators and No. 2 Pumas matched each other shot for shot. It
appeared that it was going to come down to whoever blinked at the end.
It was not until a doubles victory by Emily Woodrow and
Kiana Valentova-Macdonald that everyone could let their emotions fly. Even the
group of blue-painted dads could celebrate.
Xavier completed another unbeaten season and claimed its
fourth straight title and 10th overall with a 5-3 triumph over Perry.
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Doubles teammates Tatum Clarke, left, and Annie Kamps anxiously watch the decisive doubles match with Emily Woodrow and Kiana Valentova-Macdonald. |
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First-year Xavier coach Sue Contreras, clutching a large
stuffed green alligator and her eyes red from tears of joy, almost couldn’t
believe it.
“It means a lot being my first year,’’ she said.
“Mentally, we knew we were going to be playing tough team.
We had beaten them twice before (regular season and in the Independence
Tournament) and it was going to be hard to beat a team like that three times.
“The girls worked so incredibly hard. We knew we would have
to work together and communicate. We thought we might have a chance to be here
at the end, but we knew it wouldn’t be given to us. We just focused on each
match, not the entire season.’’
And as if the Gators needed to be reminded, someone wrote
“First to Five’’ on the white board at school (first to win five sets) before
the short trip to Sunnyslope.
Xavier and Perry were at 3-3 after the singles matches. What
prevented the Gators from going down the drain were three-set rallies by the
top two players, Tatum Clarke and Woodrow, and No. 5 Maddie Reinhart.
That left three doubles matches. Whichever team won two of
those three would be crowned the state champ.
Clarke and Annie Kamps, who won the state individual doubles
title last weekend, finished off the Pumas’ Tori Allen and Dominique Garcia,
15-3, 15-12.
Woodrow and Valentova-Macdonald and Reinhart and Alexa
Wolfson played on courts alongside that of Clarke and Kamps.
Woodrow and Valentova-Macdonald won 15-13 in the first set and
went back and forth in the second with Jillian Lagasca and Katie Cross, who
were making a bid to send the match to a third set.
Wolfson and Reinhart were in the midst of their third set
against Kylie Goldberg and Julia Mumme. They didn’t need to finish after
Woodrow and Valentova-Macdonald secured another 15-13 win.
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The championship trophy was the object of the players' affection. |
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Valentova-Macdonald said her initial reaction was, “We did
it!’’
Woodrow said she was proud that “all of our hard work paid
off.’’
The two were the top seed in the individual doubles state
tournament, fell in the semifinals and then won the consolation championship.
Did this win make up for that a bit?
“Yes, but we did our best in that tournament and we played
great,’’ Valentova Macdonald said.
“It gave us motivation,’’ Woodrow said.
At first, some thought this might be a transition year for
the Gators with Contreras taking over. But it was business as usual, mixed in
with some fun.
“She (Contreras) was amazing, awesome, the best,’’ Woodrow
said.
Xavier Prep Division I championship results
Xavier 5, Gilbert Perry 3
Singles
Madison Clarke, X, def. Jillian Lagasca, P, 11-4, 7-11, 11-9.
Emily Woodrow, X, def. Katie Cross, P, 8-11, 11-7, 11-8.
Tori Albin, P, def. Annie Kamps, X, 3-11, 13-12, 11-3.
Dominique Garcia, P, def. Kiana Valentova-Macdonald, X, 11-1, 11-2.
Maddie Reinhart, X, def. Kylie Goldberg, P, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6.
Julia Mumme, P, def. Misaal Irfan, X, 11-3, 11-8.
Doubles
Woodrow-Valentova-Macdonald, X, def. Lagasca-Cross, P, 15-13, 15-13.
Clarke-Kamps, X, def. Albin-Garcia, P, 15-3, 15-12.