In leading up to the start of the 2016-17 athletics campaign at Irvine Valley, which starts on Aug. 26 with women's soccer hosting a match, the Laser athletic department will count down the top 10 IVC sports stories from the 2015-16 school year.
Tied for No. 10 on the list was the standout season turned in by the Irvine Valley women's badminton team. The team won the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference title, made the So. Cal. Regional Final and had several players finish high at the CCCAA State Championships, including Cora Tanuwidjaja, who finished second in singles.
Irvine Valley's women's badminton player Cora Tanuwidjaja came so close to winning the singles title at the CCCAA State Badminton Individual Championships in May at Pasadena City College.
She fell to top-seeded Rebecca Tzou of Pasadena City in the finals in three tough sets.
Tzou completed a perfect season at 33-0 to win the state singles crown while East Los Angeles College's doubles pair of Jean Buenaflor and Serena Lieu captured the Huskies' first-ever state title.
The South Coast Conference swept all the big awards, including the consolation singles title in Buenaflor and the consolation doubles medal for Pasadena's pair of Eugenia Mendez and Ana Espinoza.
In the singles final, Tzou rallied to defeat Irvine Valley's Tanuwidjaja, 18-21, 21-10, 21-15.
Tzou trailed 11-8 at the break in the final set, and was behind as late as 14-12. At that point, Tzou took over the match with a 9-1 rally that clinched the match.
As advertised, the semi between Tzou and Irvine Valley sophomore Jurate Foes, the two state runner-ups of 2015 and '14, went the distance with Tzou changing her tactics after losing the opening set. Tzou went to a more aggressive style and used a variety of hard smashes and net volleys to beat the more experienced Foes, 17-21, 21-11, 21-11.
Tzou opened 13-5 advantages in each of the last two sets. Tanuwidjaja pulled out a marathon over Skyline's Fiona Lai, 21-14, 13-21, 21-19, in the other semifinal.
In the doubles final, ELAC's Buenaflor and Lieu rallied from a set down to defeat Fresno City's Lucy Lor and Panhia Vang, 14-21, 21-11, 21-16.
Buenaflor-Lieu knocked off Irvine Valley's top pair of Tanuwidjaja and sophomore Tracey Nie, 24-22, 21-13. An injury to Foes, playing with partner sophomore Peihong Jiang, allowed Vang-Lor to move on to the finals after Vang-Lor led, 21-13, through one set and, 5-1, in the second.
A week earlier, Irvine Valley lost to Pasadena City in a hard-fought match for the Southern California Regional title at PCC's Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium.
The 12-9 win moved Pasadena on to the California Community College Athletic Association State Team Championship against Fresno City.
The two-time defending South Coast Conference champion Lancers improved their record to 12-0 overall in knocking off a tough Irvine Valley team, scoring nine of the 12 singles wins. IVC, the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference champion team, dropped its first match of the team and finished its team season at 9-1.
Five of the nine singles matches played went to three sets.
Tzou, the state singles runner-up as a freshman, outlasted Tanuwidjaja, 21-18, 15-21, 21-12, and Foes, 21-15, 12-21, 21-18.
Tanuwidjaja and Foes each easily defeated Pasadena City No. 2 player Jennifer Delgado. Tanuwidjaja won, 21-7, 21-2 and Foes came out on top, 21-8, 21-9.
Playing at No. 3, Pasadena City's Sandra Maw swept Jiang, 21-14, 21-13, and needed three sets to beat freshman Stella Shao, 19-21, 21-9, 21-6.
At No. 4 singles, Eugenia Mendez scored sweeps over Jiang, 21-14, 21-15, and Shao, 21-17, 21-8. Pasadena City's Ana Espinoza, playing in the No.5 spot, downed IVC sophomore Jessey Wang, 18-21, 21-17, 21-14 and lost to sophomore Tracy Nie, 15-21, 21-19, 21-15.
PCC's bottom ladder player and No. 6 Hong Yan Liu scored wins over Nie, 21-13, 26-24, and Wang, 21-10, 21-15.
Irvine Valley won three of the five doubles matches, but it wasn't enough.
In doubles, Tzou-Maw beat Foes-Jiang, 21-9, 21-11 in a big 2-team points match. Mendez-Espinoza scored a 21-9, 21-15 in No. 3 doubles over sophomore Bo Ma and Wang, 21-9, 21-15.
Irvine Valley got two wins in doubles from the team of Tanuwidjaja and Nie and one win from Foes and Jiang.
Foes won the PCAC conference title in singles over Tanuwidjaja.
In doubles, the duo of Tanuwidjaja and Nie captured the title.
