Badminton Out & About: Washington v Burnsville

WASHINGTON 4, BURNSVILLE 3

For the second straight day #3 Washington knocked off a team above them in the last poll by the same score 4-3. Yesterday it was #1 Johnson. Today it was #2 Burnsville. No doubt the next poll we be scrambled. The Eagles had a sandwich win with the first two singles and last two doubles gaining Ws. The fourth & winning team point came at third doubles when Puja & La Joe won their second set in extra points 24-22. The two matches that went three sets fell to the hosts. Also, the overall margin was a slim 3 points. If three of those points shifted the Blaze would have been on a happy bus ride home. The Blaze did win the tight (3 points or less) sets by a 5-2 margin.

Things do not get easier for the Eagles in their gauntlet week. Tomorrow they face #4 Highland Park and then they have a rendezvous with Harding on Friday, their first match up with the Knights this season.

By the way the start was delayed at Washington. I had visions of Burnsville not showing up due to bus issues. I was not going two for two this week on cancellations.

SINGLES
1. Cinderella Nwe, W def Maddie Blackbourn 17-21, 21-17, 21-18
2. Rain Htoo, W def Delaney Woog 21-12, 21-14
3. Mina Nguyen, B def Britney Lao 22-20, 21-11
4. Jasmine Tran, B def Josey Lee 21-18, 20-22, 21-18

DOUBLES
1. Abby Briese / Corrina Benson, B def Dun Htoo / Cho Cho Oo 21-14, 21-9
2. Ariel / Paw Eh, W def Lisa Genis / Leah Merid 21-18, 12-21, 21-16
3. Puja / La Joe, W def Sherlyn Morales / Bonnie Hanson 21-17, 24-22

BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches
: Washington 2-2 .500
Games: Washington 5-5 .500
points: Washington 190-187 .504
Set 1 points: Washington 76-76 .500
Set 2 points: Washington 75-72 .510
Set 3 points: Washington 39-39 .500
decided by 10+: Burnsville 1-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Burnsville 3-2. 600
margin: Burnsville 0.375
DOUBLES
Matches
: Washington 2-1 .667
Games: Washington 4-3 .571
points: Burnsville 136-122 .527
Set 1 points: Washington 56-56 .500
Set 2 points: Burnsville 64-45 .587
Set 3 points: Washington 21-16 .568
decided by 10+: Burnsville 1-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Burnsville 2-0 1.000
margin: Burnsville 2.000

FIRST SINGLES

Cinderella NWE 2, Maddie BLACKBOURN 0
(17-21, 21-17, 21-18)

#4 singles player Cinderella Nwe overcame a loss in the first set to upend #5 Maddie Blackbourn of Burnsville. Cinderella had a distinct advantage in winners (+14) and overcame her dubious advantage in errors (+11). When given the chance Cinderella opted for the smash. That was her favorite go-to on winners with 17. The soft drive tear drop was close behind with 14. Blackbourn also used the smash as her favorite. But she was unable to generate only 13 more from the rest of her winners.

One interesting fact: since I have been counting set ups prior to the error distinct patterns show up. For Nwe it was a deep serve from Blackbourn led to five smash attempt errors. For Blackbourn it was the short serve that caused her headaches with five leading to Cinderella points.

Set one began with ten straight side outs, the first five of which came on the second stroke. Blackbourn was able to squeeze out a point on her sixth service on a five stroke smash. She also picked up the first run of three to lead 15-11. Cinderella mad a late charge with a run of three of her own to close the gap to 18-17. Blackbourn re-established her position with a two stroke clear followed by two straight smashes to close with a 21-17 victory.

It was Nwe that initiated the runs in the second set breaking free from a three all tie on the first run and then piling on five points to lead 10-5 later. The second run started with two straight smashes. Blackbourn only had one run in the second set and clawed her way back into it still trailing 14-12. A Cinderella run of three put her at 20-15. Blackbourn held off set point twice with a ten stroke soft drive followed by a seven stroke smash. The set ended on an eleven stroke hitting error on a set up clear by Nwe.

These two battlers traded runs early in the third set with a second run by Blackbourn giving her an advantage at 6-4. On the switch Blackbourn had the slim 11-10 lead. After the change of courts there was a brief consultation by Blackbourn. Nwe then ran off the next five points, matching her best run of the day. The host now led 15-11. Blackbourn tightened up her side out game after that while taking advantage of five Nwe errors to even the set at 17. Cinderella found her glass slipper with her third run of the set—a smash, a soft drive set up for a Blackbourn error, followed by another smash to stand at the cusp. A missed serve prevented the close out. On Blackbourn’s next service Nwe sent a clear to the left back corner for the W.

One factor in Blackbourn’s demise was her winner count dropped from 13 in the first set to four and seven in the next two sets.

Everytime I try to type Nwe’s name I get the autocorrect to new. That gets to be old. Or is it olde.

Category NWE BLACKBOURN
Side out 18/35-.514 18/33-.545
Longest side out string 5 7
3+ Runs 7 6
Longest point string 5 3
SERVING    
First serve (set) 3 1, 2
Service points 25 23
Serving % 54/58-.931 58/59-.983
Point generated off serve .424 .411
POINTS 59 56
Points after 11 29 29
Points after own errors 18 9
Winners after own errors 13 4
STROKES    
Strokes 243 239
Strokes per point 3.254 3.714
5+ rallies 17 21
2- rallies 23 18
WINNERS 38 24
Aces 0 0
Blocks 0 1
Clears 6 7
Drives 1 0
Drops 0 4
Soft drives 14 1
Smashes 17 11
ERRORS 32 21
Deep 4 6
Fans 0 0
Net 14 8
Wide 10 6
Serve 4 1
SET UP 27 20
Deep serve 5 2
Short serve 0 5
Block 3 0
Clear 14 6
Drive 1 1
Drop 2 1
Soft drive 1 3
Smash 1 2
ATTEMPT 8 2
Soft drive 0 1
Smash 8 1
MORE    
Largest Lead 6 4
W:E Ratio 1.188 1.142
Margin 1.000  
Set Point % 2/5-.400 1/1-1.000
Time 26:37  

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.