Pasadena, SD Mesa Strengths Of SCC Badminton

While they don't face each other until March 14, defending champion Pasadena City College and San Diego Mesa appear to be the frontrunners in this year's South Coast Conference women's badminton title hunt. 

The Lancers, last year's 3C2A state runner-up, and Mesa already have created some buzz as they each recorded non-conference victories over 2-time defending state champion De Anza. The Olympians recorded a 14-7 win over the Mountain Lions on Leap Day (Feb. 29) while PCC knocked off De Anza, 15-6, the next day. The two teams then participated at the North's Coast Conference Individual Tournament at City College of San Francisco on March 2.

PCC and Mesa are both 3-0 overall and 2-0 in conference action.

The Lancers are led by their letterman #1 singles player Rhea Zou and a veteran freshman in #2 Anh Vu Nguyen Tran while Mesa has solid players in last year's state doubles champ and the team's now #1 singles Megan Nguyen and #2 Mylene Keophaseut, the 2022 CIF Southern Section mixed doubles consolation champion. Last year, Zou lost a 3-setter v. Nguyen in PCC's conference-clinching match. So this year's matchups expect to be highly competitive in the upper ladder.

Meanwhile, San Diego City has a talented #1 Nicona Maruyama, who stretched Mesa's Nguyen to three sets in a conference match. 

Leading their respective teams are Xiu Yon Chan Zhen for East Los Angeles, Anya Gore at El Camino, and while playing at #2, Andrea Lomeli, has proven to be a strong player at Compton. Lomeli defeated Zhen in three sets during 17-4 ELAC win over Compton last week. El Camino scored a 17-4 win over East LA on Feb. 23 in its season opener.

Pasadena and San Diego Mesa learned about some of the top players from the North at the Coast tourney and one is San Francisco's Kelly Yau who beat both Zou and Tran in straight sets. In doubles, Zou-Tran played a hard-fought three sets in a loss to CCSF's Yau and Jacqueline Leong. San Francisco could very well be the North's top team in 2024. 

As has been the case in past years, it may be the depth of teams and points earned in the #3 to 6 positions in singles that will determine what team ends up on top.

PCC has made it to the state team finals in five of the last six full seasons played, representing the South Coast's only state champion teams in 2017 and 2018. 

The 10-match, conference season continues in March to April. The SCC Individual Tournament will be played at San Diego City College on April 26 and the 3C2A State Championships is slated for May 9-11 at PCC's Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.