By: Jerod Orcullo
De La Salle University and Far Eastern University locked in the top seeds of their respective groups with gritty victories in the final day of the UAAP Season 87 Esports VALORANT Tournament group stage, Saturday at the Quantum Skyview Deck of Gateway Mall 2, Araneta City.
Despite its dominating run in the tournament thus far, the Green Aces faced its toughest challenge with a 13-10, 13-6 win versus University of the East.
“Hindi lang namin inexpect yung magiging map one ngayon, hindi namin inexpect na mag-pipick sila ng Sunset, so, feeling ko nabigla lang talaga kanina dahil sa map,” explained Green Arces coach Aron Orlanda regarding his team’s hard-fought win in Game 1.
Sunset, a map that was re-inserted in VALORANT’s competitive map pool in the latest patch released 10 days ago, was selected by the Zenith Esports as the opening map of the series.
This strategic approach allowed UE to remain competitive against a La Salle side that steamrolled through its first two games of the tournament, limiting teams to below four round wins per game.
However, the Zenith Esports’ attempt at dealing the Green Aces their first game loss of the tournament was futile as the defending champions were able to weather the storm, winning three of the game’s final four rounds.
With momentum on their side, La Salle took care of business in Game 2 off an MVP performance by Xavier Juan, who logged 21 kills and six assists.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
In the face-off between the top two seeds of Group B, FEU escaped with a 13-8, 13-15, 13-5 victory against University of Santo Tomas.
Following a solid performance in Game 1, the Tamaraws absorbed their first game loss of the season at the hands of the Teletigers.
“Tingin ko kailangan kasi nila ma-experience na matalo eh. So, for me, it’s a good learning experience and then nakapag-adjust naman agad sila. So for me, good thing yun na na-experience nila matalo before yung playoffs para pagdating ng playoffs mentally prepared na sila,” expressed Tamaraws Esports coach Lawrence Fillarca.
After splitting the first two games of the series, the Tamaraws jumped out to a 5-0 spread in Game 3 as Jadine Ladines’ shots were on point.
Yet, the Teletigers slowly chipped away at FEU’s lead as Miguel Gumaru delivered multiple clutch plays for his squad in the following rounds.
Down four teammates in the 17th round, Ladines single-handedly lifted the Tamaraws to a win as he eliminated three Teletigers to force a match point in the contest, eventually taking home the series win.
(C) UAAP Season 87 Media Team
For the final game of the group stage, University of the Philippines fended off a resilient Adamson University side, scoring 13-7, 13-15, 18-16 to earn the last spot of the tournament’s Final Four and assure itself of a podium finish.
Benedicto Dasas was instrumental in the Fighting Maroons’ win in the series-decider that proved to be the longest game of the season up to this point at three hours and 33 minutes, notching 30 kills and seven assists.
In the semifinals, the Green Aces will face the Fighting Maroons at 10 a.m., while the Tamaraws Esports will go head-to-head against the Ateneo Blue Eagles at 1:30 p.m.
The winner of each match will proceed to the best-of-three Finals at 5 p.m. at the same venue.
All matches air live on Pilipinas Live and the UAAP Varsity Channel.
