On March 22, the girls varsity badminton team played fast-paced, and the team secured a marvelous 9-2 win in their first non-league game against Snohomish High School. The girls strengthen their weaknesses through an intense experience and communicate with athletes from other teams to learn their strengths.
During the week of March 27, they played two tough opponents — Redmond High School and Lake Washington High School — in tight and intense matches. These two games had the girls well-prepared for their following game against Woodinville High School on March 30. Sophomore Sriakhila Lankalapalli (she/her) said that the first set is always the hardest set.
“There are so many nerves; you never know how the opponent plays. But by the second set, I just try to figure out where the opponent struggles. And I also really enjoyed going between sets to talk to the coaches and ask for improvement because they usually monitor your games,” said Lankalapalli.
The team is composed of players from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences. Lankalapalli honed her skills at the Harbor Point Badminton Club outside of school. According to Lankalapalli, badminton is something she deeply values.
“Badminton is a huge part of who I am today because I’ve been playing it for a really long time. It’s something I incorporate into my daily routine a lot. As a whole, being an athlete is a really big part of my persona,” said Lankalapalli.
Sophomore Grace Mills (she/her), on the other hand, has just started playing badminton this year. She said she’s played a couple of times with her dad recreationally in the backyard.
“My dad just started playing and then he brought me a couple times. Slowly, I got accustomed to playing it more and more. When I found out about the Inglemoor team, I was really excited,” said Mills.
Although every player is different, everyone is shares the same passion to win
Lankalapalli set a personal goal to keep her record from last year and remain undefeated this year by improving her skills. She said that coaches have started making plans for them and offering tips over a variety of different shots and different types of tactics to play.
“I just go and talk to my coaches about what parts I struggled on and then the coach is usually at the next practice to help us go over those shots,” said Lankalapalli.
The whole team is supportive of each other. Mills said they celebrate wins together like a big family.
“We do Instagram posts, a bunch of really fun poses we all do. And then I guess it just depends. We just set music, and we’re all just excited,” said Mills.
Lankalapalli and Mills both said that their cheer is their favorite part during the game.
“We always do something with cheer, and it’s really unique. It became more known because a lot of the schools knew us for our cheer.”
