Irvine Valley College, hot on the heels of claiming its fifth California Community College Athletic Association Team Championship on Thursday, swept the individual singles and doubles badminton titles Saturday at Irvine Valley.

Irvine Valley, with three players in the singles’ semifinals and the state’s best doubles team also advancing to the semis, faced-off against a strong City College of San Francisco squad that placed three doubles teams and the remaining singles semifinalist among the final four.

It was an all-Irvine Valley final in the singles as Irvine Valley’s Vimla Phongasavithas (Villa Park HS) defeated teammate Shannon Hsu, 18-21, 21-7 and 21-16.

Phongasavithas advanced to the final with a win over San Francisco’s Yan Li, 21-11, 21-8, while Hsu defeated another Irvine Valley teammate, Anoma Phongasavithas (Villa Park HS), Vimla’s twin sister, 21-17, 21-11.

Vimla Phongasavithas entered the draw as the number one seed after taking the Orange Empire Conference singles title.

The final featured a win in game one by Hsu, the 2006 state champion in both singles and doubles for Irvine Valley, before Phongasavithas’ power and speed overcame first game jitters to win the match.

Phongasavithas was happy to get the singles win on Saturday, especially after dropping the first game.

"I know Shannon from when I was playing youth badminton and she was already playing at an elite level," Phongasavithas said. "Playing my role model in such an important match was hard, but I am really happy to win."

The doubles final pitted the state’s two best teams against one another, as Irvine Valley’s Hsu and Vimla Phongasavithas faced San Francisco’s Li and Jing Liang.

The combination of the state’s two best players was too much for CCSF, as Hsu/Phongasavithas swept to the doubles crown, 21-9, 21-9.

"This was not just a talented group, but one that worked hard in practice every day and truly loved being around each other", said Irvine Valley Coach Martin McGrogan. "We’re disappointed that Eva (Lee) couldn’t be with us for this, but we’re delighted for Vimla and Shannon."

Lee, the 2007 CCCAA singles and doubles champion, had rejoined the Irvine Valley squad after her 2008 appearance at the Olympic games in Beijing.

Lee participated in the team championships on Thursday before flying to China to represent the United States in the Sudirman Cup in Guangzhou, China starting Sunday.

James Spiller, Athletic Director at Grossmont College and the CCCAA’s badminton representative, said "It was an amazing weekend. The nation’s best collegiate badminton is right here in California, and being played at the community college level. It was especially gratifying to see the highest caliber of competition throughout the entire weekend."

Singles-Semifinals
V. Phongasavithas (IVC) defeats Y. Li (CCSF) 21-11, 21-8
S. Hsu (IVC) defeats A. Phongasavithas (IVC) 21-17, 21-11

Singles-Final
V. Phongasavithas (IVC) defeats S. Hsu 18-21, 21-7, 21-16

Doubles-Semifinals
S. Hsu/V. Phongasavithas (IVC) defeat W. Zhu/R. Wu 21-11, 21-8
Y. Li/J. Liang (CCSF) defeat C. Wong/J. Chan (CCSF) 21-23, 21-17, 21-13

Doubles-Final
S. Hsu/V. Phongasavithas (IVC) defeat Y. Li/J. Liang (CCSF) 21-9, 21-9