Bryn Mawr’s Ashley Raman, Gaby Sequeira, Shrutee Gupta and Emma Wolk made their marks in singles play while the tandems of Michelle Tang/Ava Scharfstein, Katie Lundberg/Rachel Yang, Audra Lane/Grace Harlan and Chaewon Lee/Esha Gupta combined to give the Mawrtians the A Conference badminton title on Friday afternoon at Roland Park Country School.
Bryn Mawr, which tied Garrison Forest during the regular season with a 6-2 record, captured its first title since 2005 by topping the Grizzlies, 31-21.
"The competition in the league was very even this year, so it came down to hard work at practice, staying focused, and coming out ahead in a lot of three-game matches," Bryn Mawr coach Steven Page said. "I always tell our athletes that badminton is an individual sport, but you only get to be part of a High School team once — and they really showed a lot of Bryn Mawr pride."
In order to come out ahead, the Mawrtians used their depth, Page said.
A major reason for the Mawrtian win was having Tang/Scharfstein prevail in the doubles final over Garrison’s duo of Sam Richmond/Leigh James.
"Michelle showed a lot of grit and determination by coming back from an injury which had sidelined her last season," Page added. "They lost in the final two years ago, but this year with Michelle as a senior, they showed consistency throughout the tournament winning all their matches in straight sets."
Bryn Mawr had several other key performances in the event.
"Ashley Raman make it to the semifinals, losing to the eventual winner," Page continued. "Grace Harlan and Audra Lane made semifinals in doubles, losing to Michelle and Ava in an all-Bryn Mawr match. Katie Lundberg and Rachel Yang our No. 2 doubles team, who had an amazing undefeated season, and Gaby Sequeira our No. 2 singles player also won matches racking up points for our team. We had an awesome underdog performance by freshman Emma Wolk, who was the only JV player selected for the tournament, Emma made it to the semifinals of consolation singles, finishing strong with a three-game match.
In addition to Richmond and James, the Grizzlies boasted Serena Shafer, Zoe Osgood, Ciara Tang and the doubles twosomes of Emma Nesbitt/Julia Davis, Lauren Murdick/Rachel Zhong and Alice Baughman/Danielle Garten.
Prohibitive favorite Rita Lee of Friends repeated as A Conference singles champ by eliminating Notre Dame Prep’s Maddie Willinborg in the final.
St. Timothy’s Cathy Cao earned B Conference singles honors with a win over the Institute of Notre Dame’s Lucy Wickman.
Team champion St. Paul’s School for Girls, which edged Maryvale, 42-39, for the B Conference team crown, was paced by Sarah Boyce, Dekhira Oula and Page Pursley and doubles partners Nia Lewis/Tina, Kynidi Mundell-Hill/Zoe Nivens Eliza Boyce/Kaylin (KK) Smith, Olivia Cocks/Reilly and Claudia Soudry/Sophia Taffe.
The Lions countered with Sophie Savick, Carley Laue and Victoria Daniels in singles and champions Kayla Koch/Tess Keppel joining Alex Angelos/Casey Hughes, Jordan Elsroad/Grace Morgan, Emmy Knittle/Karoll Tan and AnaLuisa Scholtes/Abigail Leonard in doubles.