Following mixed results in their morning performances, the DLSU Green and Lady Paddlers secured pivotal wins against the UE Red Warriors and AdU Lady Falcons, 3-1 and 3-0, respectively, in their UAAP Season 87 Table Tennis Tournament matches earlier today, November 21, at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay.
Elijah Yamson, Red Torres, and Troy Docto each secured singles wins for the Green Paddlers, while Angelou Laude and Kyla Bernaldez did the same for the Lady Paddlers. On the other hand, the doubles pairing of Arianna Lim and Marioni Caoile guaranteed the clean-sweep victory for the Lady Paddlers.
Starting strong
Right off the start, Yamson controlled his matchup against Laridje Legaspi of UE, who was unable to find any answers to the Lasallian’s aggressive attack. Yamson showed his prowess by quickly winning three sets to sweep his opponent, 11-3, 11-8, 11-5.
At the same time, on the other side of the court, La Salle’s Laude dominated Adamson’s Alyssa Toleco with her intense backhand returns. Laude’s matchup with Toleco also ended quickly with the Lasallian sweeping the Adamsonian in just three sets, 11-3, 11-4, 11-4.
With momentum on their side, both the Green and Lady Paddlers continued to dominate their respective clashes. Determined to add further to La Salle’s advantage, DLSU’s Torres and Bernaldez took on their Red Warrior and Soaring Falcon counterparts Kurt Villarico and Trisha Ramoneda, respectively.
Torres initially lost two sets to his opponent, 11-4 and 12-10, but showed his perseverance by impressively winning the next three sets, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6, concluding a five-set comeback. Meanwhile, Bernaldez made quick work of Ramoneda to complete yet another sweep for the Lady Paddlers, 11-7, 11-4, 11-4.
Persevering through
With a strong 2-0 advantage for both teams, the Green and Lady Paddlers aimed to carry their momentum into the doubles matches. The Lasallian pair Andrei Villacruel and Peter Zambrano took on UE’s duo of Vincent Origenes and Engelo Columna. Down with a two-set loss, DLSU was determined to avoid being swept but the Red Warriors got the better of La Salle as the former completed a three-set sweep, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9, to win the doubles match for UE, putting the overall score at 2-1.
Meanwhile, the Lady Paddlers’ doubles team of Caoile and Lim matched up against the Lady Falcons duo Angel Panao and Mary De Guzman. The former conceded the first set to Adamson, 11-7. But afterward showed fluid chemistry around the table, constantly exploiting the defensive holes of their opponents, winning two sets on the bounce, 11-7 and 11-4. Close to losing in the overall scoreline, Panao and De Guzman gritted through a closely contested fourth set and forced a fifth set, 11-6. With the fifth and final set in the balance, it was the Lasallians who persevered, 11-8, proving their strength in a high-pressure moment to win the doubles match and the overall contest against Adamson, 3-0.
Returning to the singles format for their fourth match, the Green Paddlers aimed to finally kill the fixture, with Docto taking on UE’s Johnster Rosales. Long and equal rallies were exchanged as both sides of the table were desperate to boost their team’s standing. After a deuce, Docto took the first set, 12-10, but Rosales quickly bounced back to win the next set, following yet another deuce, 12-10. The back-and-forth affair continued as the next set went to the Lasallian, 11-7. But once again, the Red Warrior responded. The fifth and final set saw the lead switch back and forth, with both players seeing the scoreboard read 9-all toward the end. However, it was Docto who kept his composure and scored two crucial points to win the singles match in the fifth set, 11-9, along with the overall encounter, 3-1.
After their impressive afternoon performances, the DLSU Green and Lady Paddlers return to action tomorrow, November 22, as they take on the FEU Tamaraws and UE Lady Warriors, respectively, at 8 am at the same venue.
