The DLSU Green and Lady Shuttlers yielded opposite results against their counterparts from NU, with the former team losing 4-1 while the latter came away with a 5-0 victory yesterday at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall.
The men’s side was outclassed by the defending champion, the NU Bulldogs, but did not go down without a fight. The loss brings their win-loss record to 1-2. On the other hand, the women’s team swept their opponents without dropping a game, improving to 2-1.
![IMG_9582 []](http://thelasallian.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/IMG_9582--705x470.jpg)
Rough start
Veteran Green Shuttler Anton Cayanan started off the men’s singles against NU’s Pedrosa. It was a tight first set for the two, with both sides reluctant to give up the first match. Finally, Pedrosa was able to bag the first set, holding Cayanan to 16 points. Despite the hustle and the support from his team, Cayanan lost the first game to his opponent with a score of 21-13 on the second set.
Next up for the Green-and-White was Kenneth Monterubio versus Gabuelo of the Bulldogs. Monterubio had a chance to close the second set after losing the first one, 21-15. However, Gabuelo scored in six of the last seven plays, overcoming Monterubio’s 17-15 lead and ending the match at 21-18, giving NU a 2-0 advantage over DLSU.
Anton Cayanan and Jerickson Obaob represented La Salle for the first doubles match of the day. The pair took the first set from Ross Pedrosa and rookie Alvin Morada at 21-15. NU’s duo fought back, unwilling to let the Green Shuttlers halt their streak. The Bulldogs claimed the third chapter with consecutive scores of 21-16 and 21-15. The fourth match featured Kenneth and Joshua Monterubio of La Salle facing Alem Palmares and Mike Minuluan. The outcome was not any different from the previous match. La Salle brought home the first set, 21-19, while the remaining sets were taken by NU, 21-15 and 21-13.
The lone victor of the Taft-based squad was Andrew Pineda, narrowly edging a tired Morada with scores of 14-21, 21-18, and 21-18.
Resounding victory
Meanwhile, the Lady Shuttlers soundly defeated the NU Lady Bulldogs, 5-0, without a player dropping a single game in any of their respective matches.
In the first match, Iya Sevilla faced Mitzi Pantoja, struggling to finish the first set despite being up 19-7 due to costly errors. Eventually, she was able to close out the set, 21-16, and would zoom to an easy second set, 21-10.
Alyssa Leonardo then followed up Sevilla’s strong finish, cruising to consecutive 21-12, 21-14 wins against Jiselle Capillo. Likewise, the succeeding game saw team captain Kristelle Salatan and Aires Montilla make quick work of NU’s Capillo and Marinel Diansay, 21-15, 21-15, with Salatan providing the spark throughout.
Leonardo and Sevilla would again see action after their singles matches, this time as a tandem, and would coast to a 21-13, 21-14 victory over Kezziah Cuelao and Jhayvin Dizon. Arian Rivera completed the sweep, beating a hapless Diansay, 21-12, 21-13, improving the Lady Shuttler’s win-loss record to 2-1.
After the morning matches, Head Coach Owen Lopez was pleased by the performances of both teams. Despite the Green Shuttler’s loss against NU, he remained upbeat on their chances of making it to the top four. Likewise, Coach Lopez maintained that both Men’s and Women’s teams must not be complacent if they are to secure a spot in the Final Four. Telling his team to perform on the court to help each other out, he emphasized the need to play together, saying, “Since team competition ito, kailangan mai-push namin ang sarili namin during games.”
Up next for the Green and Lady Shuttlers are the UST Growling Tigers, whom they are scheduled to face on September 24 at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall, at 8 am and 1 pm, respectively.
