De La Salle University and University of Santo Tomas secured the top seeds in their respective groups after going undefeated in the group stages of the 2024 UAAP Esports VALORANT Tournament on Thursday at Dark League Studios in Pasig.
The DLSU Viridis Arcus will face the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons in one of the crossover semifinals at 10:00 AM on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Teletigers Esports Club of UST will battle the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the other semifinal matchup set for 1:00 PM.
The games will return to Hyundai Hall, Arete Ateneo in Quezon City. Games will be streamed on One Sports’ YouTube channel and Pilipinas Live and air on the Varsity Channel and One Sports.
La Salle, represented by Lucas Gruenberg, Miguel Fernando Dy, Aaron Francis Sablay, Gerardo Luis Corpus II, and Lance Elmo Gacayan, dominated Group A with commanding victories over Ateneo, Adamson University, and Far Eastern University.
Despite coasting through their first two games, the Viridis Arcus faced a brief scare in Game 2 against Adamson, trailing 5-3.
However, they quickly regrouped to secure a decisive 13-8 victory, completing a flawless group stage campaign with three straight series wins.
“At first, ino-overthink namin yung ginagawa ng Adamson. Pero ang naging response namin is mag-focus sa kung ano yung nangyayari sa game. We didn’t do anything special. Whatever the info is, dun na tayo. Pagod din kami eh. They pulled through naman,” explained La Salle coach Xavier Juan of their Game 2 match against Adamson.
Juan also mentioned that the cancellation of games on Day 2 of the competition last Wednesday forced them to prepare for two matches on the same day, adding to the team’s challenges.
“Dapat one game per day eh, pero naging two. So kailangan namin magprepare ng two games in one day. Wala kami masyadong tulog. Since 12 midnight, gising na ako eh. Di pa ako nakakatulog kasi nagpe-prepare kami for both games,” Juan said.
“Yung tech issues, normal talaga yan sa esports eh. Di naman ako galit sa tech issues. Ganun naman talaga dito. Hassle lang,” he lamented.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
Ateneo – composed of Joaquin De Guia, Juancho Garcia, John Michael Amador, Christian Owen, Joaquin Antonio, and Juan Antonio Rosales – clinched the final semifinal spot in Group A, thanks to a superior round differential over Adamson.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
UST, bannered by John Matthew Cuaresma, Damien Joshua Santos, Carl Angelo Baldovia, Nathan Kyle Manuta, Angelo Kyan Ysibido, and Erl Adrik Mariano, secured the top seed in Group B through a tiebreaker after tying UP in total points and their head-to-head result.
Both teams finished with seven points after splitting their matchup.
The UP team featured Lance Veyonce Clemente, Nathan Gabriel Danac, Jose Benedicto Dasas, Rafael Anton Somera, Cyrus Toring, and Paul Julian Uson.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
“Medyo rough yung start namin. Possibly due to scheduling concerns kasi dire-direcho, ang tagal nung mga tech pauses. May mga technical difficulties so hindi namin nalalabas kung paano namin nilalaro yung dapat naming laruin, katulad ng mga pinractice namin. Kasi may mga factors like yung sounds din na naririnig sa may Arete. Hindi siya ganun ka solid kasi in-ear tapos hindi ganun kaganda yung noise cancellation ng headset. Yung lag din,” said UST coach Brent Froilan Santiago.
“Hopefully, pagdating ng playoffs, mas makapaglaro kami nang maayos. But team-wise, feel ko nagkakaroon ng malaking pressure kasi dati hindi naman namin nirerepresent yung UST as UST. Pseudo-esports org lang kami dati kasi lumalaban lang kami as Teletigers,” Santiago added.
“Pero now, since UST na yung dinadala nila, mas malaki yung pressure. Mas kinakabahan sila. Kelangan din mas mag-act sila as professional, di na pwede yung katulad dati kasi buong UST na yung dinadala namin.”
Due to the connectivity issues that occurred last Wednesday, the UAAP decided to cancel the bronze medal match. Instead, the losing teams in the semifinals will both be awarded bronze medals.
