SAN DIEGO – An impressive postseason run for the City College of San Francisco doubles team of Carolyn Nguyen and Kayla Mann finally came to a close at the 2023 3C2A Women's Badminton State Championships.
The fabulous freshmen duo won both their opening-day matches on Friday at San Diego City College. Nguyen and Mann began the state tournament with a 21-12, 21-10 victory over the Pasadena City College team of Basil Kintanar and My Linh Ly.
They followed that with another win over a PCC squad, this time needing three sets to defeat Rhea Zou and Cindy Zhao of the Lancers. Nguyen and Mann were able to bounce back after dropping the opening set 17-21 and won the final two 21-9, and 21-16 to complete the comeback.
But their dream of a state championship ended in the tournament semifinals, as they battled in a 21-15, 21-14 loss to Ha Tuyet Nguyen and Ella Trinh of Evergreen Valley College.
Despite the loss, the duo closed out another solid season for CCSF and head coach Tiffany Mariano.
"Carolyn and Kayla played amazing this weekend," Mariano said. "They upset the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals to advance. I'm very proud of how they played. They played with confidence and determination.
"Overall, the season was a success and enjoyable," she continued. "This year's team was impressive. Although badminton is an individual sport, I believe each one of them made each other better every practice."
