ATENEO BLUE EAGLE GYM — The University of the Philippines Lady Maroons ended the first round of eliminations with a 5-1 record. The Lady Maroons tied the number one seed De La Salle University Lady Paddlers, but would drop to the number two seed thanks to the Lady Paddlers higher quotient.
UP vs UST (1-0)
Led by last year’s Most Valuable Player, Joma Sibal, UP faced UST in a hard fought battle. Both teams would exchange wins, in the end UP would emerge victorious 3-2 against UST. Sibal started the match against UST’s Tempiatura, and won 3-1. UP dropped the second game, 1-3. The lone doubles game was won by UP’s pair of R.Morales and J. Garcia, 3-2. The should-have-been clos-er, third singles match would go to UST. With the series tied at 2-2 the Lady Maroons cruised to a 3-0 win, behind L. Maderal.
UP vs NU (2-0)
UP did not look back after that, finishing off their next match-up, 3-1 against the National University Lady Bulldogs. Starting strong behind R.Morales’ 3-0 win over NU’s Gudmalin, UP’s N. Nishino would struggle and eventually lose, 2-3. With the series tied 1-1, the tandem of Ching and Garcia rallied after a first set loss over their NU counterparts and win, 3-1. L. Maderal breezed through her match with a convincing 3 set sweep.
UP vs AdU (3-0)
After their 3-1 win over NU, the Lady Maroons edged out the Adamson Lady Falcons. The Maroons swept Adamson behind Sibal’s and Morales’ stellar play. The newly paired up Magpantay and Ching would not be out-shined by their singles counterparts, winning the doubles competition, 3-1.
UP vs DLSU (4-0)
Heading into the second day of eliminations with a 3-0 record, the Lady Maroons faced the unde-feated De La Salle University Lady Paddlers, who they faced last year for the championship. UP would hand DLSU their only loss of the eliminations, 3-2. It was, again, Joma Sibal who closed out a close match against DLSU’s J.Sy, 3-2.
UP vs FEU (4-1)
The Lady Maroons recorded their only defeat of the eliminations round against the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws. The Lady Maroons’ doubles competition tandem, Magpantay and Ching was the only bright spot during this affair winning 3-2.
UP vs ADMU (5-1)
Fellow Katipuneros, Ateneo de Manila University would be UP’s final match, where they convinc-ingly won 3-0, to end the first round of eliminations on a good note.
