Badminton Early Spring Review

Notes from Coach Mark Landefeld

"Spring Break" can conjure up visions of palm trees, warm beaches, and lots of socializing. If you're part of the Mountain Lion Badminton program, Spring Break means piling onto a bus, heading down through California's Central Valley, and setting up basecamp in Pasadena to play the best available competition.

This year's annual trip for the Lions commenced with a match at SoCal powerhouse San Diego Mesa on March 30.

This was a rematch from 10 days earlier at De Anza, when the Olympians prevailed against a shorthanded De Anza team 17 to 4. With their second meeting of the season, De Anza closed the gap to 12 to 9 with generally improved performances across the board.

Head Coach Mark Landefeld: "I'm pleased with the development we're getting. We've seen enough of Mesa to know they have some very experienced players who advanced deep into SoCal high school playoffs in the past. Getting in more pressure-packed competition is important, especially for our freshman."

Two days later, the Lions took on a unique challenge - a split-squad day of competition. Facility and personnel challenges at East Los Angeles College meant there was only one date available to play ELAC and Pasadena City College. At 12 noon, one-half of the Lions started a match at Pasadena City College and halfway through that match the remainder of the squad hopped on their bus and headed over to East Los Angeles College for a 3 p.m. tilt.

"I am privileged to have the caliber of staff to pull off something like this," Landefeld said.

"It's not easy, figuring out how to create two equitable lineups, provide for both competitive and development opportunities for our student athletes, and represent the college in the best way possible. And as Angelenos probably know, there's no direct freeway connection between those two schools.

"Makayla Than and Karina Chow, our top two players swept their singles and doubles matches in straight sets at PCC.  When you do that against the defending SoCal champs, you are leading the way through a challenging day."

Identical 15-6 scores provided the defending state champs with a good climax to the trip. 

The Mountain Lions experienced a team scoring rut, as they returned to Coast Conference play on Tuesday at City College of San Francisco, the 2024 champs. The final score again once again was 15 to 6.

DA improved to 5-3 overall and 3-0 in the Coast Conference.

Landefeld added: "our initial lineup performed very well. Being up 10-1 at the midpoint of the match allowed us to substitute liberally and help develop the depth of the team to prepare for the rest of the season."

The team returns to the action this Thursday at home against district rival Foothill (3:30 pm), with a return trip to Foothill occurring on Friday at 12 noon.