UniGames 2014: La Salle teams finish strong

Bagging a total of five championships in the recently concluded UniGames held in Iloilo, De La Salle University’s varsity teams displayed dominance and sportsmanship against other participating universities in the annual event. Hosted by the University of San Agustin (USA), the 19th edition of the UniGames, themed “The games that bring us together”, was held from October 20-28.

The DLSU Lady Spikers, the Green Tennisters, the Green Shuttlers, the Lady Tennisters, and the Lady Woodpushers brought home championships in their respective events. Meanwhile, the Lady Shuttlers, and the Lady Booters bagged silver medals, and the Green Booters and the Green Woodpushers finished at third place.

With opponents coming from various leagues from different regions and provinces, the level of competition was rather different than the usual UAAP games, which are only comprised by eight Metro Manila universities. DLSU participated in several events, except for the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, table tennis, and beach volleyball.

Women’s Volleyball

After falling short of a finals appearance in last year’s tournament held in Bacolod, the revamped DLSU Lady Spikers sought redemption as they ousted the NU Lady Bulldogs in the finals in four sets, 25-14, 21-25, 25-23, 25-21. Team Captain Ara Galang scored vital points in the last moments of the third set, swinging the game to their advantage after NU outplayed them in the second set. Galang also notched the finisher in the fourth set, regaining the crown for the Lady Spikers, which they last won in 2012.

Lawn Tennis

The Green Tennisters and the Lady Tennisters claimed twin titles in the tournament after a dominant showing in their event. The Lady Tennisters were undefeated in their elimination games in Iloilo, sweeping their opponents, 3-0, in their matches against Holy Angel University (HAU) and USA. The women’s tennis team also won against the eventual second place finishers, ADMU.

Chess

The Lady Woodpushers also clinched the top spot with Cherry Mejia and Bernadete Galas ranking first in their respective boards. Kyla Camacho and Mira Mirano ranked second, while Rowelyn Acedo ranked third. As the Lady Woodpushers were able to claim top ranks in all the boards, they were easily hailed as the champions in the Unigames chess event.

Meanwhile, the Green Woodpushers finished third overall, behind DLS-CSB and LPU, as they were able to break into the top three ranks in two out of five boards. Aglipay Oberio ranked second in his board while Christian Nanola finished third.

Football

Dominating USA in their first match, 8-0, the Green Booters won their succeeding games against AdU and LPU. The men’s football team eventually dropped their semi-finals match against San Beda, 0-3, but they regained themselves with a 6-1 victory against NU, to cap themselves at third spot. On the other hand, the Lady Booters proved to be a force to reckon with at the pitch, as they finished second overall in the tournament.

Badminton

The Green Shuttlers outclassed Adamson in the semi-finals to book a ticket to the championship match. They eventually prevailed over USLS in the finals to bring home the trophy for the tournament. However, their female counterparts, the Lady Shuttlers, fell short in the finals to finish the competition at second place.

As the second semester sports of the UAAP is about to unfold in a few weeks, the victories of these La Salle squads in the UniGames is an integral part of their preparation to start and end their seasons on a high note.