Brenden Paul is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Sunrise Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com.

The Sunrise Mountain badminton team took its first loss of the season after dropping a hard-fought match against two-time defending state champion Ironwood 5-4 Thursday night at home.

The Mustangs previously faced Ironwood in the Forner Invitational last weekend at Sunnyslope High School, where they split their six singles matches 3-3 with the Eagles. Thursday was no different. The Mustangs took 3 out of 6 singles flights against the defending champs.

Senior Hattie Hearnen won #2 singles in two sets (21-18, 21-10) against Ironwood’s Melanie Flores. Senior Annabel Johnson also won her #6 singles match in two sets (21-16, 21-16) against Ironwood’s Adelynne York.

"My self-talk was really good today, and I think my backhand was my best bet,” Johnson said. “I think having harder shots is something I can work on going forward this season.”

At  #1 singles, junior Rylan Rhodes won her match after Ironwood’s C’asia Handy suffered an injury and forfeited the remainder of the match.

Senior Camille Martin battled throughout the match. After dropping a close first set 21-18, Martin rebounded to win the second set 21-14. Martin went on to drop the third set 21-9 but battled throughout her sets. Junior Hannah Winschel also had a fantastic effort. After falling in a hard-fought first set 21-15, Winschel bounced back to win the second set 21-17, then dropped a competitive third set 21-18.

The lone underclassman in the lineup, Ruthey Figg, started her match with a first-set win (21-18) but dropped the next two sets after the hard-fought competition (21-12, 21-10).

In doubles, the #1 doubles pairing of Rhodes and Hearnen won its match in two sets (21-17, 21-14). The pair exhibited great communication and hard work while sweeping the #1 doubles flight.

"I think playing with strategy, using a different variety of shots, and playing with a lot of energy was key for me today,” Hearnen said. “I think going down the road I could play with a little more patience, and not rushing everything. That’s how I lost some of my points, but it helped in the end.”

The #2 doubles pairing of Martin and Winschel played competitively, though fell in two sets (21-11, 21-16). The #3 doubles pairing of Johnson and senior Mabel Dinnell showed promise throughout their match, but fell to Ironwood’s York and Jezebel DeHerrera (21-13, 21-8).

Mustangs head coach Missy Carter said she saw a lot of positives in her team’s play, but also saw some things the Mustangs could improve on down the road.

"We weren’t always on top of our mental game today,” Carter said. “We had a few players who struggled with that. We put together a great practice yesterday, and we practiced well, Ironwood is just a good team.”

The Mustangs will be back on the court with two matches next week. Sunrise Mountain will take on the Centennial Coyotes at Centennial on Tuesday, September 27, and host the Cactus Cobras on Thursday, September 29.