Last Monday, the girl’s badminton team at Mountain Ridge started off their season strong with a win at home against the Verrado Vipers. The Varsity team won 9-0 and the JV team won 9-0 as well. Every member of the team plays in a doubles and singles match which each consists of three games. A win is secured by the team who is the first to 21, winning by 2 points.

During their run at state playoffs last season, Ridge made it to the semifinals and was ranked third in the state. Senior badminton player, Hannah Evans, hopes that the team can repeat their success again this season.

Evans began playing her freshman year and has continued through all four years. Prior to the pandemic she participated in dance in gymnastics and after wanting to try something new she turned to badminton.

Evans would encourage others to join because “badminton is a really good community. Everyone’s really nice to each other and really friendly.” Additionally, the beginner-friendly aspect of the sport allows athletes with no prior experience to quickly pick up the game.

Ridge has a tough schedule this year that will include some hard opponents. But, Evans says that this will lead to a lot of good games, something that she is looking forward to. In her senior season, she is also excited to be “spending another year with all these girls that I’ve been friends with since freshman year.”

The team will compete again at Desert Vista on September 3rd where they hope to continue their success.