Badminton Faces De Anza In 3C2A State Team Final On May 8

For the third straight year, the Pasadena City College women's badminton team has advanced to the 3C2A State Team Championship Final. The South Coast Conference champion Lancers make their eighth title final in their history, all since 2010, as they play Coast champ De Anza on Thursday, May 8 at City College of San Francisco. 

The title match is set for a 5 p.m. start. 

Winners of 12 of the last 14 SCC titles, PCC is 10-2 this season, but both of its losses are against the powerful Mountain Lions, undefeated at 14-0. The two programs are part of just 12 teams with two 6-team, conferences in each region that played the sport this season as badminton has dwindled in numbers among California Community College sports since a bright beginning in 2000.

Pasadena completed its third straight undefeated run to the South Coast crown with a 21-0 win over Compton on April 23. The Lancers hold a 32-match conference win streak going into next year.

PCC won back-to-back state titles under Coach Jen Ho in 2017 and 2018, but lost the last two championship finals, a 12-7 defeat v. San Francisco last year and an 11-0 loss to De Anza in 2023. 

De Anza downed the Lancers in non-conference matches, 17-4, on Feb. 28 then 14-7 on April 1. 

The Mountain Lions are led by Coast singles champion Mailan Vuong, who also won the doubles title with teammate Natalee Lam. 

TRAN IS SCC DOUBLES CHAMPION FOR SECOND STRAIGHT SEASON

The Lancers participated in the SCC Individual Tournament on Friday at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club, the home site for El Camino College. 

Anh Tran and Janet Diec are the conference doubles champion after rallying from a set down to defeat the San Diego Mesa pair of Mylene Keophaseut and Emily Chindamay, 16-21, 21-16, 23-21. Tran has the distinction of being a 2-time, South Coast doubles champion, winning in 2024 as a freshman with Rhea Zou.

Keophaseut is the singles champ for the second straight year as Tran was forced to default the final due to fatigue. Tran won her semifinals match v. Chindamay, 21-19, 21-15. 

The Lancers qualified five singles and three doubles pairs for the 3C2A State Individual Championships also at CCSF on Friday-Saturday, May 9-10. Tran goes as the region's #2 seed joined by Lancers in #6 Beatris Tzou, #7 Janet Diec, #9 Yolanda Huang, and #10 Karylle Peralta. In doubles, Tran-Diec make state as the #1 SoCal seed, followed by Huang-Tzou at #5 and Peralta and Christel Joy Villa at #6.