The NU Shuttlers dominated all 5 matches of their series against the FEU Tamaraws enroute to a match-sweep last August 10 at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila City. It was a bloodbath capped-off by a dominant performance by Philippine Youth Team member Ariel Magnaye in the 5th match over Rafael Dionisio Jr.
Men’s Singles Match 1: Roseleenard Pedrosa (NU) def. Josh Mark Maquelabit (FEU), 2:0
NU 1 – 0 FEU
In a sign of things to come that would set the tone for the entire series, Pedrosa, of the National University, would dominate Josh Mark Maquelabit of the FEU Tamaraws. During the first set, Pedrosa displayed a masterful performance over his rival with a series of drops that clearly confused his opponent. Pedrosa took the first set with a score of 21 – 11. Clearly shaken during the second set, Josh Mark Maquelabit committed a lot of errors through-out the set. Add to that the court-control Pedrosa displayed resulting in a set-sweep of the shuttler from Sampaloc. The final score for the second set was 21 – 6.
Aggregate Score: Pedrosa 42 – Maquelabit 17
Total Match Time: 20 mins.
Men’s Singles Match 2: Joper Escueta (NU) def. Joshua Bernarddo (FEU), 2:0
NU 2 – 0 FEU
Joper Escueta, continued to ride of momentum set by his teammate Pedrosa, in easily defeating Joshua Bernarddo in two sets. Halfway through the first set, Escueta led by as much as 7 points, 13-7. Bernarddo never got going in the first set to give the first set to Escueta with a score of 21 – 14. The second set was a bad showing for Bernarddo as the set got out-of-hand for the Tamaraw. During the set-break for the match, Escueta led Bernarddo with a score of 11 – 2. The final score for the set 21 – 8 giving the Bulldogs a 2 – 0 series lead.
Aggregate Score: Escueta 42 – Bernardo 22
Total Match Time: 25 mins.
Men’s Doubles Match 1: Paolo Gonzales and Ariel Magnaye (NU) def. Rafael Dionisio Jr. and Joel Christian Mendez (FEU), 2:0
NU 3 – 0 FEU (NU wins)
Rafael Dionisio Jr. and Mendez were looking for to bounce back against the NU tandem of Gonzales and Ariel Magnaye to give the Tamaraws a chance to steal the series against the Shuttlers from Sampaloc. It was not meant to be however as Paolo Gonzales and Ariel Magnaye proved to be a more skilled doubles team resulting to a 2-set win over the Tams. Ariel Magnaye led his team with a series of excellent returns and smashes, credited with scoring 14 of the 21 points of the Bulldogs, to give the first set to his team with a score of 21 – 12. The second set was pretty much the same with the Tams never taking advantage of the little errors committed by Magnaye and Gonzales. National University took the second set 21 – 13. With that, they sweep the match and gave the Bulldogs the series win.
Aggregate Score: Gonzales (14), Magnaye (28) 42 – Dionisio (12), Mendez (13) 25
Total Match Time: 25 mins.
Men’s Double Match 2: Joper Escueta and Alvin Morada (NU) def. Joshua Bernarddo and Josh Mark Maquelabit (FEU), 2:0
NU 4 – 0 FEU (NU wins)
With the series in hand, the NU duo of Escueta and Morada never let their guard down in this match with a romping of Bernarddo and Maquelabit. The set scores for this match are 21 – 12 and 21 – 11 with NU sweeping another match.
Aggregate Score: Escueta (16), Morada (26) 42 – Bernarddo (10), Maquelabit (13) 23
Total Match Time: 20 mins.
Men’s Single Match 3: Ariel Magnaye (NU) def. Rafael Dionisio Jr. (FEU), 2:0
NU 5 – 0 FEU (NU wins)
Coming from the highly-regarded badminton family, the Magnayes, Ariel Magnaye, the closer for the NU Bulldogs squad, showcased why he is one of the top badminton in the country today with a demolishing of his opponent Rafael Dionisio Jr. with a two-set sweep of the final match to give the NU Bulldogs the first all set-sweep of the UAAP Season 77 Badminton Tournament. Magnaye never trailed in the 25 minutes of action in the match. The first set ended with a score of 21 – 14 while the second set ended with a score of 21 – 10, all for Magnaye.
Aggregate Score: Magnaye 42 – Dionisio 24
Total Match Time: 25 mins.
Aggregate Sets Won: NU 10 – 0 FEU
