Notebook: Badminton Reaches the Halfway Mark

The Lady Vikings have reached the midpoint of what has proved to be an exciting season thus far. Coming into this week, the team sits on a 3-3 record, alternating wins and losses in its six matches this season.

While some cynics would perceive the team's even-handed record as a stalemate between aspirations and inexperience, coach Dr. David O'Connor maintains that he thinks his squad is moving in the right direction. "I'm very confident that the team will do well as the season progresses," he said.

Dr. O'Connor points to the fact that the team's losses were hard fought ones. "Our losses have been very close," he said, a fact that points to the ever-strengthening grit and resolve of the team that came into the season without, as Dr. O'Connor put it, "a single team intact."

The past week for the Lady Vikings has highlighted what could be perceived as a nagging trend of losses followed by seemingly vindictive wins. According to senior Jackie Werner, the team started the week of with a rocky 5-2 loss against Hempstead on Wednesday but got its act together and had a nice 6-1 win over East Meadow on Friday. This trend, while pointing to the competitiveness of the team, has put the Lady Vikings in the unfortunate position of hoping for other teams to lose in order to make the playoffs. This has yet to rattle Dr. O'Connor, however, who remains optimistic, citing the team's "undeniable skill and increasing cohesiveness."

Ultimately to be successful, the team will have to overcome its tendency of negating its hard-fought victories with tough losses in addition to surmounting lingering weaknesses in match play, according to Dr. O'Connor. Despite these obstacles, junior Payal Doshi is confident in the team's success in its final six matches of the season. "The team is becoming stronger with each match, so I expect we go into every match better than the day before," she said.

This confidence is much needed in the world of rematches, which is exactly what the Lady Vikings have scheduled for the latter half of their badminton season. They will take on Roslyn, who defeated them 6-1 on opening day, and Valley Stream South, who they topped 6-1 in their second match, this week.