DeKalb High School is the host of the IHSA state badminton meet for a third consecutive season. Heading into the consolation championships, third place matches and state doubles and singles badminton championships, Neuqua Valley is on top of the standings ahead of Stevenson, Fremd and Glenbrook North. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.

Five Naperville area schools finish in the top 15

Naperville Central and Waubonsie Valley both finish in the top 15 overall. Redhawk Zoey Tian finished in the top 12 in singles before being eliminated in the consolation quarterfinals while teammate Megan Moreno fell in the third round. Kelly Hu from Naperville North also made the top 12, falling in the consolation quarters. The Huskies finished in a tie for ninth place.

Waubonsie Valley doubles pairing Tisha Dubey and Vaishnavi Cheedepudi performed well, advancing to the championship quarterfinals, eventually finishing in the top 8.

Metea Valley also finished in a tie for ninth place with Pragya Iyer advancing to the fourth round of the consolation bracket while Devangi Kohli and Aditi Singh made the top 12 before falling in the consolation quarterfinals.

Luna Han and Kanyanat Vajworarat get back to the doubles championship match

Neuqua Valley doubles team Luna Han and Kanyanat Vajworarat, the defending state champions advance to the state finals once again after defeating Katie Moy and Nivedya Nair from Stevenson in the semis. The Wildcats face the other Stevenson doubles duo Anvi Harish and Charlotte Richards.

Neuqua teammates Amber Shi and Katherine Ye picked up key points for the Wildcats, advancing to the consolation quarterfinals.

Han and Vajworarat gain the early advantage after a lengthy rally that ends with a smash from Luna Han that splits the Patriots for a point.

Stevenson rallies as Harish and Richards get back to back quick points, eventually winning the opening set 21-16.

The Wildcats trail 17-10 in the second set, but the defending champions are not going down without a fight. Richards has some nice returns on Han smashes and a drop shot, but Vajworarat flips a return back to the right to get the point. Neuqua on an eight-point run to take an 18-17 lead.

Neuqua trails 22-21 facing match point, but once again the Cats battle in an attempt to force a third set. Neither team gives an inch until Han gets a backhand return before lining a shot down for the point as the set is tied 22-22.

Stevenson leads 23-22 with the serve. Harish lobs one to the back. Han is unable to get her return back over and Stevenson wins the doubles championship in two sets. Han and Vajworarat are the runners up.

Carissa Chen wins the singles consolation bracket

In the singles division, former Waubonsie Valley player Carissa Chen is back in the consolation championship playing for IMSA against Yelang Lee from Fremd. Lee wins the first set, ending a point with a powerful smash to force the error.

Chen comes back to win the second set and with match point in set three, Chen drops a perfectly placed return right on the line to win the fifth place medal in three sets. Chen becomes a four-time All-State performer.

The third place match features Adalyn Shum from Stevenson against Sophia Lin from Fremd. Lin gains an early advantage by putting a drop shot just over the net that Shum is unable to dig out. They split the first two sets and head to a set three.

Shum is able to hang on for a 21-16 victory to take the third place medal, helping Stevenson move into second place in the team standings.

It’s an all Neuqua Valley singles championship

In the singles semifinals, Shum fell in three sets to Neuqua Valley freshman Ishi Reddy while Lin was defeated by Neuqua senior Hannah George, meaning it’s an all Wildcat singles state championship match. The semifinal victories guarantees that Neuqua Valley will win the team state championship. The only drama remaining for head coach Nick Benson is seeing which of his players will become the first singles champion in program history.

Hannah George has played in the state championship match before, finishing as the runner up in 2023 and the veteran shows her poise in the first set as well as a mastery of shot placement as the senior wins the first set 21-13.

Trailing 17-14 in the second set, Reddy is not going roll over and hand the title to her teammate. A nice scoop to dig out a smash followed by a line drive that kisses the line for a point. Reddy goes on a 7-1 run to win the second set 21-18.

Set three goes back and forth with the state title on the line, Reddy erases an early deficit once again and remains poised, eventually setting up match point with a 20-19 lead.

Facing elimination, George gives her all, unleashing a series of shots before flipping a return to the right corner and down for the point to tie things up at 20-20.

Ishi Reddy is the first Neuqua Valley singles state champion

After taking a 21-20 lead, George then hits a pair of returns out of bounds as Reddy once again has match point leading 22-21. This time, George leaves her backhand a little short as it finds the net. Freshman Ishi Reddy is the 2025 state singles champion, the first for the Neuqua Valley program. Hannah George wins her fourth state medal and helps Neuqua Valley to the third team state championship in school history. Fremd wins the third place trophy with Stevenson in second by just a half point.

It’s the first state championship for Neuqua Valley badminton since the Wildcats won back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016, when Coach Benson’s wife, Marie Valente, was the head coach of the program.

Posted

Monday,
May 19, 2025
2:49 pm

Posted

Monday,
May 19, 2025
1:59 pm