The Lady Eagles and the Lady Maroons are set to clash once again!
The Ateneo de Manila University Lady Eagles dismantled the postseason stepladder with another masterful sweep of arch-rivals De La Salle University Lady Green Shuttlers, 3-0, Saturday afternoon at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall.
Queen Eagle Bianca Carlos powered her way to a two game sweep of sophomore Iyah Sevilla, 23-21, 21-16, in the opening singles match.
Sevilla’s lead reached its highest at the start of the first game at 8-1, as uncharacteristic errors piled up for the Ateneo skipper. Nonetheless, Carlos then did her usual MVP thing of piling up the points as she threatened to complete the comeback early. The La Sallians tried to inch her way into the game, forcing a deuce, but Carlos finished it off with a power drive.
It was total domination in the following game as the two-time MVP from Ateneo cruised into the frame. Sevilla had her moments, but the lead was just too big to overcome.
Last year’s team captain Trixie Malibiran then put Ateneo into a commanding 2-0 tie lead as she edged out Arianne Rivera, 21-18, 21-19.
Rivera managed to control the early goings of both games, taking the lead at the respective intervals. With determination, the fourth-year Lady Eagle slowly cut the deficit forcing errors from the lanky opponent, before taking her down to steal the frames and the match.
In the lone doubles match, lone Ateneo rookie Chanelle Lunod carved perhaps her best performance in her debut season. The newbie kept pace with her captain, Carlos, to edge out Sevilla and fourth-year Lady Shuttler Alyssa Leonardo in two games.
Ateneo dominated the crucial parts of the match, but Sevilla and Leonardo did not give up easily. Sevilla, who did not get to see action in the first tie of the semis, tried her best to keep the second-seeds in the match. Leonardo also showed grit to put La Salle into the Finals once more.
Nonetheless, Lunod came up big with her strong drives as Ateneo went into match point and one away from getting the Finals berth. Rookie mistakes happened, however, and Carlos and Lunod saw their mighty 20-14 lead disappear.
In the end, Carlos once more played the heroine and sent her squad back into the Finals.
The two-time MVP believes that the Lady Eagles took the saying “history repeats itself” to heart in their rise and return to the last dance.
“Kahit nasa dulo ka ng ladder, kahit fourth ka, if meron kang bilib sa sarili mo, if you have that unity sa team, kung lagi niyong ine-encourage yung isa’t isa, hindi imposibleng mapunta sa Finals,” she said.
Carlos also added that the team will look on to take on UP with that same fire and determination.
“Tomorrow, we’re preparing, not just physically, but mentally, yung lahat ng players namin. Hindi kami pwuedeng mag-relax against UP. This is not going to be easy for us,” she added. “Alam naming magiging mahirap. Pero with God’s grace, alam kong He will help us get through this.”
The Part III of the Battle of Katipunan in the UAAP women’s badminton championship begins tomorrow at 1:00pm.
