Badminton closer than the score indicated

 The 8-1 badminton victory by host Peoria Liberty over Xavier Prep on Thursday did not indicate how close this one came from going the other way in Xavier’s favor.

Three singles matches and one doubles match went the full three games, with Xavier winning one.

Xavier slipped below the .500 mark overall at 7-8-1, while Liberty reached .500 at 5-5. Xavier was ranked No. 13 by the Arizona Interscholastic power points listing, and Liberty was 15^th.

Highlight of the day was the 2-1 victory by junior Gigi Riviere in the No. 2 singles spot against Liberty’s Riley Jones. Riviere fell in the first game, 21-16, but rallied for 21-17 and 21-17 wins.

Xavier has three matches on back-to-back-to back days to wrap up the regular season.

They are Tuesday (Oct. 12) at home against Tempe Corona del Sol, Wednesday (Oct. 13) at home against Chandler Basha and Thursday (Oct. 14) at Chandler High.

Thursday’s result

Liberty 8, Xavier Prep 1

Singles

Hannah Kubala, L, def. Jasmine Leyva, X, 21-17, 21-9; Gigi Riviere, X, def. Riley Jones, L, 16-21, 21-17, 21-17; Jaylana Dominguez, L, def. Sophia Bonilla, X, 17-21, 21-17, 22-20; Hailey Connor, L, def. Riley Dowdall, X, 21-16, 21-15; Deeksha Aithal, L, def. Lexi Garman, X, 21-11, 23-21; Amber Dauer, L, def. Caroline Cobb, X, 17-21, 21-15, 21-11.

Doubles

Connor-Aithal, L, def. Leyva-Riviere, X, 21-19, 21-16; Kubala-Jones, L, def. Dowdall-Bonilla, X, 18-21, 21-14, 21-16; Kennedy Williams-Dominguez, L, def. Garman-Cobb, X, 21-12, 21-16.