De La Salle University shuttlers dominated the Adamson Soaring Falcons in their Season 77 debut. It was a lopsided victory for the Green Team led by Gerald Sibayan, John Kenneth Monterubio and the tandems of Elijah Boac and Jericson Obaob and Carlos Cayanan and Prince Monterubio. The Taft-based squad would only suffer 1 match loss in the series with EJ Viloria defeating Glenn Camillo in the final match in the game.
Men’s Singles 1: Gerald Sibayan (DLSU) def. Ruben Haramel (AdU) 2-0
DLSU 1 – 0 AdU
In the first set of this match, Gerald Sibayan would blitz through a 7 to 3 lead over Ruben Haramel before Haramel would close the Sibayan lead to just 1. Gerald Sibayan would let lose with a series of smashes and excellent returns to win the first set 21 – 14. The second set produced the same story, as at one point in the set, Sibayan would take a huge 15-7 lead over Haramel. The set ended with a score of 21 – 13.
Aggregate score: Sibayan 42-27 Haramel
Match time: 25 mins.
Men’s Singles 2: John Kenneth Monterubio (DLSU) def. Jerome Pechera (AdU) 2-0
DLSU 2 – 0 AdU
It was more of the same in the second match of this series as Kenneth Monterubio outclassed Jerome Pechera with a 2-set sweep to give DLSU a comfortable 2-0 lead against the Soaring Falcons. In the first set, the older Monterubio would unleash a 6-0 point rally to give him a comfortable 12-6 lead over Pechera. The lead never evaporated as Monterubio took the set 21-12. More of the same happened in the second set as Monterubio led by as much as 7 points late in the set with the score at 18-11. Monterubio took advantage with a number of return errors by Pechera, who was clearly rattled by his opponent. Monterubio wins the second set 21-15.
Aggregate score: Monterubio 42 – 27 Pechera
Match time: 20 mins.
Men’s Doubles 1: Elijah Abdel Boac and Jeric Obaob (DLSU) def. Johnric Macabenta and Jerome Pechera (AdU) 2 – 1
DLSU 3 – 0 AdU (DLSU Wins)
In a close match, the Green duo of Elijah Boac and Jeric Obaob escaped a close match against the Soaring Falcons team of Johnric Macabenta and Jerome Pechera to take the series and give the Green shuttlers the game. It was a close match from the get-go as the Taft-based tandem narrowly edged the team from Ermita 23-21 in the first set. After an exhausting first set, Boac and Obaob managed to only score a combined 15 points in the set. John Macabenta would take advantage of this scoring on 14 points in the set with a series of excellent returns and smashes. The Soaring Falcons would tie things up at 1-all in the match. In the final set that saw both teams exchange leads in the late stages of the set, it was the Green shuttlers closing the game out with three straight points by Elijah Boac to win the game for the Archers side.
Aggregate score: Elijah Boac (31) and Jericson Oboab (18) 49 – 51 Johnric Macabenta (32) and Jerome Pechera (19)
Match time: 40 mins.
Men’s Doubles 2: Carlos Cayanan and Prince Monterubio (DLSU) def. EJ Viloria and Keith Reyes (AdU) 2 – 0
DLSU 4 – 0 AdU (DLSU Wins)
With the game on hand, the DLSU team of Cayanan and Monterubio soundly defeated the tandem of Viloria and Reyes. In this tournament format, every set win is needed for tiebreaker situations. The first set was a close set as both teams exchanged leads for the better part of the set. With the score tied at 20-all, the DLSU squad, Prince Monterubio specifically, scored two straight points to give his team a 1-0 match lead. The second set was never close as the DLSU squad, coming from a 6-9 deficit, scored 6 straight points to give the Green shuttlers the lead 12-9 and never looked back with a 21-15 win over Viloria and Reyes.
Aggregate score: Carlos Cayanan (28) and Prince Monterubio (15) 43 – 35 Johnric Macabenta (19) and Keith Reyes (16)
Match time: 30 mins
Men’s Single 3: EJ Viloria (AdU) def. Glenn Camillo (DLSU) 2 – 0
DLSU 4 – 1 AdU (DLSU Wins)
Glenn Camillo, a freshman for the DLSU side, was going for the clean sweep of the game (which is a huge advantage in this team tournament format). EJ Viloria had other thoughts about it. EJ Viloria, playing in two straight games, closed out the DLSU-AdU series with a win edging his rival to give the Falcons a silver lining in this series. It was close all throughout with a first set, which was marked by a number of point rallies from both athletes. In the two-point advantage situation however, it was EJ Viloria scoring the pivotal two points to grab the first set. The second set was a tight contest as well. EJ Viloria had a 16-12 lead over Camillo but scored on 6 straight points. Viloria, clearly fatigued, made a lot of return errors, all of which fell short behind the net. But in the end, he caught his second wind and secured at least a win for the Adamson-side 23-21.
Aggregate Score: EJ Viloria 47 – 43 Glenn Camillo
Total Match Time: 35 mins.
Aggregate sets won: DLSU 8, AdU 3
