Benjamin Brown

Jackson Mao, a sophomore, jumps up for a drop shot against his opponent. Mao capitalized on the drop shot, throwing off the opponent and increasing the lead in the second set. Mao, who battled through injury all game, played resilient despite not meeting his play standards. Despite his frustrations, Mao defeated his opponent 2-0. “Even with my injury, I know that I need to continue to work on my game to elevate it to the next level,” Mao said.

Carlmont’s coed varsity badminton team defeated Menlo-Atherton High School 29-1 at Carlmont High School on Tuesday, April 4. The Scots, who are now 8-0 on the season, beat the Bears with ease.

“Carlmont is very challenging to play against. As a student, Carlmont was always the toughest team on the schedule. Their coaches are excellent, and they have a lot of really talented players,” said Fitz Geonzon, a former student and head coach for the Bears.

Jackson Mao, a sophomore for the Scots, defeated his opponent 2-0 in a singles matchup. Mao played through injury but kept his composure to defeat his opponent.

“I think I hit a lot of good pushes and a lot of drop shots, which scored a lot of points for me. Even though I sometimes struggled on defense I tried to focus on staying out of my head,” Mao said.

Grace Liu, a freshman at Carlmont, dominantly defeated her opponent 2-0. Liu used her powerful drop shots to topple her opponent. After the game, she expressed relief at winning against her skilled opponent.

“I won and had fun. We take practice super seriously, so when we play in the matches, many players are focused on playing well and having a good time,” Liu said.

According to Jackson Mao, the Scots are looking to improve their skills to achieve their ultimate goal of winning the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL).

“Winning PALs is a super important goal for the team. Last year, we had some individual winners, and we want many of them to repeat themselves as winners,” Mao said.

The Scots have set many goals, and for them to achieve them, their team chemistry becomes beneficial for their team’s success.

“Our team chemistry is super beneficial to our team’s success. Especially for our doubles teammates, many of them get along super well, and as well for the mixed doubles,” Mao said.

On the other hand, Menlo-Atherton is looking forward to every upcoming match on the schedule.

“As a team, we look forward to the closer matches. So for the remainder of the year, we have the close matches circled on our calendar,” Geonzon said.

With many successful wins for the Scots, they hope to retain their undefeated season in a critical matchup against the Aragon Dons on April 23.

“As a team, we are looking forward to playing against Aragon because they are ranked second in the division. They are also our only competition,” Mao said.

With another win under the Scots’ belt, they must remain focused to accomplish their goals for the end of the season.

“By penetrating and brutally defeating our opponents, we can beat anyone,” Liu said.