Badminton: Top seeds advance in singles and doubles

October 23, 2015 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Xavier Prep qualified five players and Desert Vista  three on Friday for the quarterfinals of the state badminton tournament at Independence High School.

The top four seeds in singles and doubles spurned upsets with ease in the early rounds. Quarterfinal action in singles and doubles begins Saturday (Oct. 24) at 10 a.m. with semis and finals following in the early afternoon.

Top singles seed and defending state champ Desert Vista's Karen Guo moved on along with Greenway's Makaila Mason (No. 2); Xavier's Kirielle Singarajah (No. 3) and Mountain Ridge's Mackenzie Whitten (No. 4). The quarterfinal matchups: Guo vs. #9 Denise Nieves (Skyline), Whitten vs. #5 Aitzya Alvarez (Westwood); Singarajah vs. #6 Alexis Mee (Chandler) and Mason vs.unseeded Lauren Rusk (Camp Verde).

No big upsets in doubles either on Friday. The top four seeds survived -- No. 1 Elle Millon and Rena Han (Hamilton); No. 2 Sam Berg and Nicole LoDestro (Red Mountain); No. 3 Laike Reader and Lauren Kater (Perry) and No. 4 Aimee Clifford and Rachel Goettl (Sunnyslope). The quarterfinal matchups: Millon-Han vs. #8 Katie Cuthbertson and Julia Hansen (Cactus); unseeded Sydney LaPierre and Emily Woodrow (Xavier); Reader-Kater vs. #6 Tatum Clarke and Laura Pearl (Xavier) and Berg-LoDestro vs. unseeded Victoria Fagan and Cindy Wu (Desert Vista).