UAAP: Green Shuttlers continue undefeated run, Lady Shuttlers remain in contention

The DLSU Green Shuttlers overcame the gusty UP Fighting Maroons and UST Growling Tigers to stay on top of the standings with an unscathed 5-0 win-loss record. The Green-and-White won all the matches against UST last August 16 and went on to win against the UP Fighting Maroons, 4-1.

The DLSU Lady Shuttlers were also last weekend, towering over the AdU Lady Falcons on August 16 then sneaking past the NU Lady Bulldogs on August 17 as they bounced back from a two-game losing skid to improve their win-loss record to 3-2.

Soaring over the Lady Falcons

The Lady Shuttlers wasted no time to get back at their feet as they made quick work of the Lady Falcons in Round 4 of the UAAP Women’s Badminton Tournament, winning all but two sets in the five matches.

Aires Montilla of DLSU matched up against Adamson’s Mikaela Aquino in the first singles match where Montilla emerged victorious in two sets, 21-15 and 21-10. The second singles match was more of a nail-biter with Lady Shuttler Alyssa Leonardo and Lady Falcon Jean Marie Lucas trading wins in sets one and two, 21-17 and 23-21 respectively. However, the Green-and-White representative pulled ahead in the third set, 21-14, giving La Salle a 2-0 match lead entering the first doubles match.

With the prospect of deciding the game early seemingly imminent during the moment, the Taft-based squad looked to finish the game as they went on with their attack. The third match saw DLSU outplay their opponents in a two-set victory, 21-19 and 21-11 as Lady Shuttlers Montilla and Kristelle Salatan outplayed the Christine Garin-Gellyn Ochoa pair.

This, though, did not affect the resilient fighting spirit that the Lady Falcons possess as they tried to go out on a positive note. The duo of Lucas and Mikaela Aquino was able to squeeze out a set by defeating the Leonardo and Danica San Ignacio tandem representing La Salle, 21-19. But the Lady Shuttlers proved to be too much to handle as they finished the set, and ultimately the game, as the victors by tallying wins in the first set, 21-14, and the third set, 21-13. Monica Arrianne Rivera sealed the clean-slate victory by sweeping AdU’s Garin, 21-8 and 21-14.

A dominant performance

In the first singles game against UP, Green Shuttler Gerald Sibayan won against Fighting Maroon Ethan Malelang in a three set affair.  Sibayan stumbled in the early in the game, dropping the opening set, 17-21.  The veteran, however, picked up the pace and returned the favor to Malelan in the second set, 21-17.  Sibayan was finally hitting the right notes, finishing the game with the score of 21-11 in the final set.

The next singles game, as well as the two doubles matches were smooth sailing for the Taft-based squad, winning all of them in just two sets with huge margins.  Kenneth Monterubio shined as he finished off UP’s Wilson Lopez, 21-14, 21-19 in the first and second sets respectively.

The hostility between Gerald Sibayan and Ethan Malelan continued in the form of a doubles match.  Sibayan, along with his partner Carlos Cayanan cruised to victory at the expense of UP’s Malelang and his partner Lorenzo Leonardo, 21-14, 21-10.  The Maroons gave a fight in the last doubles game as UP’s team of Carl Clemente and Raphael Deato went close in both sets against the duo of John and Prince Monterubio.  The Monterubio brothers, however, prevailed in two sets, 22-20, 21-19.

UP’s Lorenzo Leonardo however, got vengeance from Green Shuttler Carlos Cayanan in the last game as he defeated Cayanan in straight sets, 24-25 and 18-21.  Cayanan struggled with his touch, committing errors in both his drops and smashes in the non-bearing game.

Outlasting the Bulldogs

On the next day, the first three games for the Lady Shuttlers were quick as they finished off the NU Bulldogs in just three games each.  In the first game, Camille Gotohio was victorious against NU’s Mary Cuilao.  Gotohio never gave her opponent a chance as the game ended with a score of 21-15, 21-17 in the first and second set respectively.  Lady Shuttler Rivera continued the onslaught for the Green-and White, exploding in the first set with a score of 21-13, and finishing her opponent in the second set, 21-19.

Dominant is an understatement when it came to the performance DLSU’s Salatan and Montilla versus the Camba-Magallano duo of NU in the first doubles match.  The Salatan-Montilla duo ended the match quickly, 21-9 and 21-10.

The Taft-based squad, however, struggled in the last two games, which were non-bearing since the Lady Shuttlers have already won the first three of five games. In the fourth match, the duo of San Ignacio and Danica Peligirino fell short against Lady Bulldogs Jhayvin Dizon and Lovely Magallano. The Lady Shuttlers lost the first set, 16-21, but bounced back in the second, 22-20.  Dizon and Magallano were too much for the Green-and-White as NU escaped with the win, beating La Salle with a score of 13-21 in the deciding set.

The Lady Bulldogs also took the last game, which featured Lady Shuttler Peligrino and NU’s Magallano.  Peligrino took the first set, 21-15, but the Lady Shuttler struggled for the rest of the game, dropping the last two sets 19-21 and 13-21 respectively.

Perfect sweep

Carlos Cayanan triumphed against UST’s John Yabut in the first game, 21-14 and 21-18 in the first and second sets respectively with his creative placing.  Cayanan redeemed himself from the dismal performance the day before.  Kenneth Monterubio also had a stellar performance, winning a two-setter against Alced Sabnal, 21-8 and 21-15.

The rest of the matches were hard fought as the Growling Tigers attempted to rally back.  The duo of Carlos Cayanan and Gerald Sibayan started the doubles matches with a close win against UST’s team of John Pantig and Edgard Reyes.  The action went back and forth between the two teams as La Salle won the first set with a score of 21-14.  The Growling Tigers then regained ground, capturing the second set, 14-21.  The Green-and-White, however claimed the win, outhustling their opponents in the deciding set, 21-15

The match between Green Shuttlers Prince and Kenneth Monterubio and Tigers Mark Soeta and Patrique Magnaye also went the distance, which ended in favor of La Salle, 21-19, 16-21, and 21-9.  The Monterubio brothers had difficulty in the second set, but finished the job after demolishing UST in the final set.

Elijah Boac capped off the sweep against the Growing tigers as he rallied back to snatch the victory against John Pantig. Boac dropped the first set, 18-21, but bounced back and prevailed in the second and third set, 21-19 and 21-16.

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The Green Shuttlers will try to stay undefeated as they face the NU Bulldogs on Saturday, August 23, at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

The Lady Shuttlers, on the other hand, look to continue their winning ways as they face the UST Tigresses on Saturday, August 23, also at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.