#4 JOHNSON 4, #3 HARDING 3
#4 Johnson edged out #3 Harding at home in a tight battle 4-3 with state seeding implications. Earlier in the year the Knights won by the same margin in their house. Today the Governors took the even singles and odd doubles to piece together their win. The match that sealed the win for Johnson came at third doubles. The way Johnson has their courts set up is the first and seconds start the match and the thirds and fourths come in later. Since third doubles went to three sets that put the Govs on top. A swing of three points would have led to a 4-3 Harding win.
Four of the matches went on to three sets with Johnson taking three. The exception was at first singles with Gaozhia Vue of Harding outlasting Su Meh in an epic battle. One other interesting item on the three setters—in three of those contests the winning side lost the first set needing to win two in a row. Not only were the sets tight, but so were the point totals. The margins for doubles was separated by 1.75, for singles 1.3. Five sets were decided by three points or less. At first doubles the Gov pair of Anastasia Vang and Sammie Yang lost a narrow contest in the first set, only to ramp it up and win by double digit margins in the next two sets.
St. Paul is the center of high-level badminton. In past years I spent a lot of time in the gyms in the Capital City. Today was one of the few times I traveled east this season. This year the teams have been tightly bunched providing contests that have had fans on the edge of their collective seats. Five of the top six badminton programs reside in St. Paul. The atmosphere in the gym was high, you could cut it with a knife. There also was a display /fair going on in the lobby area which increased the crowd size. But with these two traditional powers there was no need to manufacture the importance of this game. Everyone felt it and knew it.
Johnson and Harding finish the conference race 9-3, both tying for second place behind Como Park.
SINGLES
1 Gaozhia Vue, H def Su Meh 21-23, 21-17, 21-18
2 Gaonou Vang, J def Linda Chang 16-21, 21-18, 21-16
3 Tiffany Tran, H def Sandy Moua 21-16, 21-17
4 Amanda Her, J def Lydia Vang 21-9, 21-9
DOUBLES
1 Anastasia Vang / Sammie Yang, J def Alissa Chang / Chaiplia Moua 18-21, 21-4. 21-10
2 Gaohli Chang / Paige Xiong, H def Shalisha Vang / Krystal Moua 21-10, 21-14
3 Aliya Vang / Cammie Yang, J def Chiashe Moua / Kelly Yang 21-13, 17-21, 21-18
BY THE NUMBERS
SINGLES
Matches: tied 2-2 .500
Games: tied 5-5 .500
points: Johnson 191-178 .518
Set 1 points: Johnson 76-72 .514
Set 2 points: Johnson 76-69 .524
Set 3 points: Johnson 39-37 .513
decided by 10+: Johnson 2-0 1.000
decided by 3-: Johnson 2-1 .667
margin: Johnson 1.300
DOUBLES
Matches: Johnson 2-1 .667
Games: tied 4-4 .500
points: Johnson143-129 .526
Set 1 points: Harding 55-49 .529
Set 2 points: Johnson 52-46 .531
Set 3 points: Johnson 42-28 .600
decided by 10+: Johnson 2-1 .667
decided by 3-: tied 1-1 .500
margin: Johnson 1.750
FIRST SINGLES
Gaozhia VUE 2, Su MEH 0
(reported 21-23, 21-17, 21-18 recorded 21-23, 21-16, 21-19)
#6 Gaozhia Vue pulled out a three-set win over #2 Su Meh. This was the pair’s third meeting (more to come in the next few weeks) with today’s Vue’s first win over the Governor. The first meeting came at the Edina Invitational with Meh winning then in three sets. In the conference tussle at Harding Meh triumphed in two. Today Vue had to battle back after Meh won set one in extra points. One area Vue had a significant advantage came on winners 37-28. The clear came in for 13 points. Meh’s best winner was the smash for nine. Those winners were highlighted again in the early going with a combined eleven straight winners. Meh’s favorite two stroke winner was the soft drive six times in the first two sets, but Vue denied any of those points in the final set.
This was high intensity action with the side out game predominating in the early goings in the first set. Twelve straight times the bird was surrendered after one service. That first set had Meh with 16 services and Vue with 15. Usually twelve is a high end match. The defensive stop strings in set one were also long with Meh leading the way with seven. Meh broke through first with the first run of the day worth five points to lead 13-8. Despite a five point hole, Vue chipped away at the lead evening the score at 18 with a run of four to make it 18 all. In that run it was Meh that struggled…first with a missed serve and then three straight two stroke errors. It took three set points before the set ended after an eight stroke bird that sailed wide. One tell tale sign that the day could belong to Vue was her 13-10 advantage in winners.
It was back to side out world in set two with Meh scoring on her first service and then nine straight side outs including two straight missed serves by Vue. Vue snapped out of it and gained the first run to make it 8-5 with four straight points. Meh responded with her own run of four to inch forward 9-8. Vue gained distance from Meh with a five point run capped by her second deep ace of the set to make it 17-12. Meh was only able to squeeze one point on her remaining three services. The match was tied at one win each.
The third set started differently than the first two sets. Showcasing how fatigue plays a part in the game…Vue’s side outs in set one was at a .750 clip, in set three .455. Meh also saw a decline from .800 to .500. Vue didn’t waste time getting her first run on her second service tacking on four straight points for a 5-1 lead. Vue added her second run on her sixth service for a 12-5 advantage, the largest lead of the night. Meh’s next four services brought points on each service and the host tied the score at 15. Vue used a six stroke soft drive to start her final run of the night and an 18-15 lead. When Meh got a four stroke smash making it 18-16 the two exchanged sides (when it was supposed to be done after eleven points). Meh went ahead 19-18 on a four stroke clear that went wide. But a missed serve derailed the momentum. Meh’s soft drive attempt on Vue’s next service found the net instead of the other side of the court and Vue had her victory 21-19.
Vue is now 11-6. Meh, who has been ranked #1, has lost three in a row and is now 13-4 on the year.
x
| Category | VUE | MEH |
| Side out | 26/39-.667 | 25/38-.658 |
| Longest side out string | 6 | 7 |
| 3+ Runs | 7 | 3 |
| Longest point string | 5 | 5 |
| SERVING | ||
| First serve | 3 | 1, 2 |
| First point | 3 | 1, 2 |
| Service points | 25 | 21 |
| Serving % | 56/62-.903 | 56/59-.949 |
| Point generated off serve | .397 | .362 |
| POINTS | 63 | 58 |
| Points after 11 | 33 | 32 |
| Points after own errors | 17 | 12 |
| Winners after own errors | 14 | 8 |
| STROKES | 232 | 193 |
| Strokes per point | 3.683 | 3.328 |
| 5+ rallies (%) | 18 | 14 |
| 2- rallies (%) | 26 | 28 |
| WINNERS | 37 | 28 |
| Aces | 2 | 0 |
| Blocks | 1 | 0 |
| Clears | 13 | 4 |
| Drives | 8 | 4 |
| Drops | 2 | 4 |
| Soft drives | 7 | 7 |
| Smashes | 4 | 9 |
| Even Stroke Winners | 28 | 21 |
| 2nd Stroke Winners | 11 | 13 |
| Odd Stroke Winners | 9 | 7 |
| ERRORS | 30 | 26 |
| Ceiling | 0 | 1 |
| Deep | 9 | 5 |
| Net | 8 | 10 |
| Wide | 7 | 7 |
| Serve | 6 | 3 |
| Even stroke errors | 14 | 15 |
| 2nd stroke errors | 9 | 13 |
| Odd stroke errors | 16 | 11 |
| WINNER LOCATION | ||
| Left | 16 | 6 |
| Right | 21 | 22 |
| Largest Lead | 0, 5, 7 | 5, 1, 0 |
| W:E Ratio | 1.233 | 1.077 |
| Margin | 1.667 | |
| Set Point % | ||
| Time | 27:50 |