Court 3
The NU Lady Bulldogs were hungry for an upset over the UST Golden Shuttlers. They almost had it going into the 2nd doubles match for the series. UST Lady Shuttler Ana Barredo and designated closer Maria Victoria Vizmonte would not allow it however. The Barredo-led UST Golden Shuttlers would outlast the NU Lady Bulldogs with a series win 3:2.
Women’s Singles Match 1: Ana Patricia Barredo (UST) def. Mary Keren Kazziah Cuillao (NU), 2:0
UST 1 – 0 NU
Patricia Barredo struggled during the initial stages of her first game against Keren Cuillao. After gaining a 7-4 lead over Cuillao, Barredo would allow Cuillao to score 5 straight points to give up the lead 9-7 to the Lady Bulldog. The lady shuttler from Jhocson would gain a one point advantage over Barredo going into the 11th point break with a close-to-the-line point. After the break, Barredo would make a huge point rally. She would score 11 of the game’s last 12 points with graceful drops and strong returns. Barredo won the 1st game 21-12. The second set saw Patricia Barredo continue where she left off during the 1st game. Patricia Barredo would outclass her opponent allowing only 8 points from Cuillao enroute to a 21-8 victory.
Aggregate Score: Barredo 42 – Cuillao 20
Total Match Time: 20 mins.
Women’s Singles Match 2: Loverly Magallano (NU) def. Airish Ann Macalino (UST), 2:1
UST 1 – 1 NU
The first game of the Magallano and Macalino match saw no huge momentum swings from both ladies. They would alternate scoring via short returns or over-shot lobs. However, it was Loverly Magallano’s two small-point rallies that made the difference in this game winning the set 21-18 for the Lady Bulldogs. Coming-off the set break, Macalino would blast through the set, gaining an 11-4 lead over her opponent. Magallano would then go through an 8-4 run to keep the game close 15 -12. But Macalino would connect successfully with her drops and smashes to shut Magallano out and win the game 21 – 12. The final set, however, would see an exhausted Airish Macalino. Seeing this, Loverly Magallano would take advantage of this, blowing-out Macalino 21-12 to tie the series up at 1 apiece.
Aggregate Score: Macalino 51 – Magallano 54
Total Match Time: 34 mins.
Women’s Doubles Match 1: Jhayvin Dizon and Rhianca Lawis (NU) def. Jean Aguila and Steffie Denise Aquino (UST), 2:0
UST 1 – 2 NU
With the series now tied at one-all, both tandems played with determination to gain that advantage that their team might need to close-out the series. The first set was competitive which saw the ladies from Jhocson gain a 19 to 15 lead over the ladies from Espana. Steffie Aquino would not be undeterred in making a come-back as she tried to make a huge rally for UST. It fell short however as the tandem of Dizon and Lawis won the set 21-18. The second set would see the UST Golden Shuttlers go into a 19 to 15 hole late in what could be the deciding set for the match. Steffie Aquino would again try to salvage the match making a huge 4-0 rally to bring the UST-side within 1 and force advantage points. Again, she would fall short in her come back as Rhianca Lawis blasted a return to give the Lady Bulldogs a 2-1 lead in the series.
Aggregate Score: Aguila (14) and Aquino (23) 37 – Dizon (22) and Lawis (20) 42
Total Match Time: 30 mins.
Women’s Doubles Match 2: Patricia Barredo and Airish Macalino (UST) def. Kazziah Cuiliao and Loverly Magallano (NU), 2:1
UST 2 – 2 NU
The Lady Bulldogs wanted to close-out this series to upset the Ladies’ team of the Golden Shuttlers. Step 1 was to win the first set. Kazziah Cuiliao, credited with scoring on 13 points in the first set, led her team to a 21-15 win during the first game. With the series and the momentum leaning towards the Lady Bulldogs, the Golden Shuttlers needed to find their grove as soon as possible. The team of Cuiliao and Magallano would have a slight all through-out the early parts of the set, including a 15-12 advantage at one point. The Lady Bulldogs, led by Loverly Magallano in this game, would halt each short rally of the Golden Shuttlers with successful drop returns. Patricia Barredo would find her groove at just the right time, scoring 5 straight points, to give the Golden Shuttlers a single point lead. Airish Macalino would finish-off the game scoring on 4 points, including a short return by NU’s Cuiliao to force a 3rd game. The 3rd game, just like the 2nd set, was close all through-out with no one gaining a clear cut advantage. The game would be tied 13 times during the set. However, it was Airish Macalino’s late game heroics that would make the difference in the set. With the score tied at 18-all, and with UST’s series at stake, Macalino would score on the final 3 points of the match to tie the series.
Aggregate Score: Barredo (26) and Macalino (28) 54 – Cuiliao (33) and Magallano (22) 55
Total Match Time: 40 mins.
Women’s Singles Match 3: Maria Victoria Vizmonte (UST) def. Zyrish Camba (NU), 2:0
UST 3 – 2 NU (UST wins)
UST’s designated closer Maria Victoria Vizmonte was the perfect choice by Coach Noli Cajefe as she completely outclassed NU closer Zyrish Camba to complete the Golden Shuttlers’ comeback to take the series. Maria Victoria Vizmonte displayed amazing laterals on her returns in both sets, hardly giving Camba any momentum in both sets. In her dominating win, she would win both games 21-12 and 21-14, including a match-changing 15-7 lead in the first game.
Aggregate Score: Vizmonte 42 – Camba 26
Total Match Time: 25 mins.
Aggregate Games Won: UST 7 – 5 NU
