Mepham Girls Badminton Served by Baldwin, 4-3

In sharp contrast to the sunny, 80-degree day that encompassed Long Island, the girls of the Mepham badminton team were competing in Baldwin High's flourescent, room temperature gymnasium.

There were no chirping birds or buzzing lawnmowers, instead the sounds of squeeking sneakers, popping shuttlecocks and tapping raquets (tapping raquets act as a high-five proxy in doubles matches) filled the small space.

And surrounded by the blue and gold background of the gym, the girls fell short against an agressive Bruins team, 4-3.

Third year coach Anthony Cracco said, "We're not performing well enough in doubles to be winning."

One Baldwin player in particular seemed to give the Mepham girls trouble. She had a dominating presence in doubles matches, moving with finesse and using a powerful overhead smash. You could see her intensity and passion, at one point asking the crowd of nine to "...quiet down please."

Coach Cracco noted that two of his singles athletes, senior Jenna Cavuto and junior Shayna Lupu, performed extremely well. But two strong performances on a team of many is not enough, especially when a number of players were absent from the event.

"We're missing a couple [players]...it'll strengthen our doubles when we're not missing them," said Cracco. "It's a young team. "Once we've got everyone back, we're just going to try and get better."

They'll make their next attempt on Monday against inter-district rivals, Bellmore JFK.

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