The DLSU and Green Lady Shuttlers saw different conclusions to their weekday matches in the UAAP Men’s and Women’s Badminton Tournament as they clashed with the AdU Soaring and Lady Falcons yesterday, October 16, at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall.
For the fourth time, the Green Shuttlers could not direct their aim on the win, narrowly missing out with a 3-2 loss against the Soaring Falcons; while the Lady Shuttlers coughed up a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Lady Falcons.
So close yet so far
The DLSU Green Shuttlers deployed their usual starter Lovic Javier to get things going for the team. Prized rookie Javier went up against AdU Soaring Falcon Russel Oliveros in a fast-paced match, with both players seizing every opportunity to kill the ball. AdU held a comfortable cushion heading into the short interval, 11-7. Javier slowly caught up after finding his rhythm, forcing the set to extend but ultimately succumbing to Oliveros’ power, 22-20. Despite his first set loss, the 2025 Palarong Pambansa singles gold medalist was able to pick up some momentum, drawing first blood in the following set with a swift crosscourt attack that later sparked a scoring blitz, 5-0. Javier was able to string a run together, drowning Oliveros and claiming a set of his own by a large margin, 21-8. The decider set proved to be the most competitive for both teams, with DLSU and AdU chasing after a game point. Javier stayed within striking distance with Oliveros, even engaging in a 10-all deadlock before the break. However, the Lasallian was not able to overtake the Soaring Falcon in the final set, falling victim to his sharp talons, 21-18.
With the Green-and-White back on the catch-up game, the Green Shuttlers turned to their reliable veteran Miguel Cuarte to deliver them a win. Cuarte worked hard for every ball, which paid off with an early four-to-nothing run, putting him up 10-4 against AdU’s John Paul Badang. DLSU claimed the opening set, 21-12, then aggressively opened the second with a comfortable lead with Cuarte’s precise gameplay, 6-love. Cuarte’s solid defense and smart offense allowed him to carve an even more impressive set win in the second, 21-5, emerging victorious on both his games in the two-day affair.
DLSU and AdU were back to square one heading into their third game for the day, turning to their experienced duo Yuan Tan and Joshua Morada to gear up against Oliveros and Nathaniel Acedillo. The two teams were at each other’s necks, trading blows until the Green Shuttlers pulled off a 5-1 run by mostly targeting the corner to pull ahead, 11-8. The match got even tighter with both teams fighting for a set advantage, but the Soaring Falcons eventually got away with an uncontested run until game, 21-17. Eager to force a third set, the Green Shuttlers struck early, unloading attack after attack to establish an early advantage, 6-1. La Salle relied on their attacking prowess until the end, registering a 6-0 run capped off with a powerful attack by Morada to end the set with a double-digit advantage, 21-9. In a high-pressure decider, AdU stormed ahead early as the errors piled up for DLSU, 8-3. Oliveros and Acedillo held their biggest lead of the set going into the break, 11-6, but Tan and Morada steadily worked their way and captured the lead with all points coming from powered attacks to trim their deficit, 16-15. However, mistakes continued to plague the Taft duo which ultimately cost them the set, 21-18.
In an attempt to stop the Soaring Falcons—who were just one step away from reaching the finish line—the Green Shuttlers fielded Cuarte and Zaki Layno to take on Noel Hernandez and Gabrielle Ganoy. Layno threw the first punch with a surprising attack to set the tone of the match, 1-0. The Lasallians made sure to follow through and unleashed a commanding 9-0 blitz to secure a double-digit lead, 16-5. Layno, after starting up the set, was the one to pack things up with a resounding jump smash, 21-9. With a dominating first set, the Green Shuttlers were poised to snatch the second set as well, but Hernandez and Ganoy refused to let it come easily for them. AdU unloaded four points all coming from attacks to surge ahead for the first time, 4-2. La Salle swiftly took action and did their best to keep the ball in play while converting points. Nearing the end of the match, the Green Shuttlers won an excruciating rally with their perfect rotation capped off with a charged attack from Cuarte, 17-12. The duo remained composed until the final moment, with a game-sealing skyward assault from Cuarte bringing them back to even footing with AdU, 21-17.
Promising rookie Gift Linaban went into the battle against veteran Acedillo with everything on the line. After struggling with errors early on, Linaban charged on offense, listing back-to-back points to arrive at a 6-all deadlock. With the Lasallian gaining momentum, he kept close with the Adamsonian on the scoreboard but eventually bowed out in the opening set, 21-18. Linaban was eager to bounce back, but Acedillo’s offensive prowess and consecutive runs were too much for him to handle, 21-16. The DLSU Green Shuttlers finished their weekday matches once again with a victory eluding them, 3-2.
Sweet victory
In contrast to her match yesterday, Mia Manguilimotan took the singles court today, going up against AdU Lady Falcon Marriane Barcelona. Manguilimotan initially struggled, facing a 5-1 deficit due to her mistakes and Barcelona’s aggressive offense. The veteran continued to lag until a 3-0 scoring run, capped off with a service ace, propelled her to finally take the lead over AdU, 14-13. The game reached an 18-all deadlock before Barcelona clinched the set with two consecutive points to bring the Lady Shuttler down, 21-18. Maguilimotan had a huge 8-2 margin over Barcelona, but errors down the endstretch and an overwhelming offense caused her to falter in straight sets, 21-19.
Lady Tuario was up next for the Green-and-White, squaring off against Khylle Agura. The Lady Falcon maintained her distance from Tuario, ensuring that she held control over the match to give their team their second win. Despite a valiant effort from the Lasallian, she failed to get ahead of Agura as she caught the net multiple times, causing her to give up the first set, 21-18. Tuario picked up a little bit more pace in the following frame, sneaking consecutive drop shots to gain a fragile advantage, 10-8. Costly errors continued to haunt Tuario, aiding Agura in a huge 7-0 run all the way to the end of the match, 21-15.
The dependable duo of Viana Antonio and Ghiselle Bautista stepped on the court once again, aiming for a much-needed win for the Lady Shuttlers against AdU’s Barcelona and Rheylyn Pedron. For the Lady Falcons, claiming the first doubles match of the day would mean victory for the team. Right off the bat, Antonio and Bautista brought out their solid defense to deny AdU a win and keep the score close, 10-8. The duo seized the empty spots on the Lady Falcons’ side and limited their mistakes to carve out an energizing 21-16 win. Barcelona and Pedron could not penetrate La Salle’s steel-like defense nor deflect their surging offense, enabling them to go on an uncontested 5-0 run until the second set interval, 11-6. A tricky drop with the help of the net from Bautista brought the Lady Shuttlers to match point, while a service ace from Antonio sealed the game, 21-18, marking their victory in both their doubles games for the weekdays.
Despite still being behind 2-1 in the team tie, Lady Shuttlers Army Espe and Maguilimotan were energized by their teammates’ previous win. By the middle of the first set, the Lasallians captured a sizable advantage over Lady Falcons Graziel Cabriga and Mary Ondol after two consecutive attack points, 15-8. The attacking duo maintained their form, closing the set with a move each, 21-13. Early in the second set, DLSU was plagued with errors, clashing with the net multiple times, which put AdU ahead, 9-6. Espe and Maguilimotan quickly bounced back from their errors and went back to their aggressive nature, dropping an 11-2 bomb to bring them closer to a second game win, 17-12. The last few points of the Lady Shuttlers came from impressive plays, with a push on the shuttle from Espe doing it for DLSU, 21-12.
In a final game on tenterhooks, Team Captain Bautista took the court once again in an attempt to overcome Key Aubrey Fuerte. The early game was tight-knit until Bautista exploded into a seven-to-nothing scoring surge to put her way ahead, 10-4. The Lasallian’s mounting lead quickly disappeared after a series of attacking errors allowed Fuerte to catch up, 16-15. Despite the shift in the air, Bautista held on and denied AdU from stealing the lead. The Lady Falcon forced a deuce, but Bautista proved her might and sent Fuerte falling when her racket sent the shuttle to an empty spot, for a first-set win, 22-20. With only a set away from their long-overdue win, Bautista kept her composure despite the mounting pressure in the emotional game. DLSU held an 11-5 lead into the short interval after capitalizing on AdU’s errors and making multiple charges near the net. Bautista’s polished play kept her flaws to a minimum and allowed her to fire more attacks that Fuerte could not reciprocate, ending the day with a decisive 21-11 win and a mark in the win column of the tournament, 3-2.
With the elimination round coming to an end, the Green Shuttlers aim to catch up with their counterparts’ feat, and the Lady Shuttlers look to improve their standings as they face the UST Growling Tigers and Tigresses this Sunday, October 18, at 8 am and 1 pm, respectively, at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall.
