A Semester in Review

The Adelphi Badminton Club, Fall 2013. (Photo courtesy of Adelphi University)

The fall 2013 semester proved to be a very successful one for the Adelphi University Badminton Club. 

• Tryouts were a huge success, drawing 55 Adelphi students.
• The competition team competed in two tournaments. They hosted Stony Brook University in the Center for Recreation and Sports on Oct. 19, and traveled to the campus of the College of William and Mary on the weekend of Nov. 9.
• On Oct. 2, 15 members of the team participated in the run/walk event as a kickoff to Jennifer Montgomery Breast Cancer Awareness month, sponsored by the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.
• The team held its annual doubles tournament fundraiser on Dec. 3rd, where it raised a record $235 to go towards next semester's expenses.

The team has continued to grow over this semester, and hopes to continue this growth moving forward. In the spring, the team has been in talks with badminton clubs at Queensborough Community College, Boston University and Penn State to possibly set up tournament. In addition, the team is looking to take part in another fundraiser, as well as try and perform community service off campus.

Thanks for following along and getting an inside look at a semester with the Adelphi Badminton Club!

Sitting Down With Jenna Cavuto

Senior club president Jenna Cavuto. (Photo by me)

Senior Jenna Cavuto has been leading the Adelphi University Badminton Club since it was established in the fall of 2011. She has seen the club through since the beginning, and has seen it grown from just an intramural club between Adelphi students to a competitive, travel team.

As her penultimate semester on the Garden City campus comes to a close, I sat down with her for an interview.

We looked back on how the club got started, how the club has grown over her tenure, the club's activities this semester, talked about her Adelphi badminton career.

Badminton Club Fundraiser A Huge Success

The participants of the fundraiser gather on the East Court of the Center
for Recreation and Sports to listen to president Jenna Cavuto go over
the rules and regulations. (Photo by me)

The Adelphi University Badminton Club raised a record total of $235 in its doubles tournament fundraiser that took place Tuesday evening on the East Court at the Center for Recreation and Sports.

A total of 18 teams came out and competed in the double elimination tournament. The event featured a main draw and a consolation bracket, where losers in the main draw competed in knockout format. Each of the matches was played best-of-three sets, but main draw sets were played to 21 points while consolation sets were played to 15 points.

"The event was great and was run really smoothly and efficiently," junior Chris Weihs, who is not a member of the team but came out to support them, said. "Being knocked out in the first round was pretty upsetting but life goes on! I had some good laughs and met some great people."

Each of the team's members teamed up with someone who is not on the team in the spirit of fairness and competition. The top two seeds in the event were the pairings of Cole Peters (a team member) and Chiwete Njokanma (who were dubbed Team "We Don't Lose" by Peters) and Alissa Montalbano (a team member) and Jimmy Lynn.

While Peters and Njokanma lived up to their seeding and made the final, Montalbano and Lynn were upset in the semifinals by the unseeded pairing of Tye Morrison and Dylan Daxon, who are teammates on Adelphi's varsity golf team. However, Peters and Njokanma, who is a junior on Adelphi's men's tennis team, proved to be too much for the Cinderella team in the final match. They lived up to their team name as they did not drop a set during main draw play and recorded a 21-7, 21-5 victory in the final.

For their efforts, Morrison and Daxon each received an Adelphi t-shirt, while Peters and Njokanma will each receive a $10 gift card to the venue of their choice.

The tournament marked the club's last organized event for the fall semester.

"I couldn't be more happy with how the tournament went," club president Jenna Cavuto said. "It was great to see that many people come out and support us."

In a semester where the club's travel budget was depleted due to its trip to Virginia, the funds will go towards travel expenses for the spring semester.

Check out some photos from the tournament below!

Club secretary Daylynn Wu (near left) and her partner Kristen Caulfield
compete in doubles. (Photo by me)

Team member Jason Emanuel (near right) and team alum Donna Perino
teamed up for the tournament. (Photo by me)

Team member Donald Wunder (right) serves while his partner, Jonathan
Sclar looks on. (Photo by me)

(l to r: Dylan Daxon, Tye Morrison, Chiwete Nojkanma and Cole Peters
pose after their final match. (Photo by me)