Seniors highlight badminton victory

Senior Day always is a special time for the athletes to be honored by underclassmen and their coaches.

Four Xavier Prep badminton players shared the spotlight on Friday (Sept. 22). The Gators came through with an 8-1 victory over visiting Chandler Hamilton at the Activity Center.

Maddie Reinhart, Alexa Wolfson, Mimi Zurbriggen and Rebecca Ryan listened to speeches from teammates and received small bouquets and some sweet treats before the start of the match.

Coach Susan Contreras said it was better to have the ceremony on Friday than before the final home match of the season on Monday (Sept. 25) against Phoenix Mountain Pointe. Xavier is 9-1 entering that match.

“It’s hard to keep your focus, but we managed to stay focused and did well,’’ she said of Friday’s match.

Reinhart and Wolfson got Xavier off to a good start in singles with victories. Reinhart won 11-5 and 11-1 and Wolfson won 11-1 and 11-0.

Reinhart struggled a bit in her first match. She was down 4-0 before she got her act together and produced a comeback.

“There are times when Maddie has been down early or even lost her first game, but she listens to what the coaches say (in between games) about what she needs to do to make corrections that need to be made and usually does it,’’ Contreras said.

The Gators earned a day off from practice on Saturday (Sept. 23). After Monday’s match, the team will play at Chandler High on Sept. 28 and participate in the Independence Invitational on Sept. 30 at Glendale Independence.