THE ATENEO Women’s Badminton Team opened their UAAP Season 85 campaign in dominant fashion, beating the Adamson University (AdU) Lady Falcons, 5-0, earlier today at the Power Up Centro Atletico Badminton Hall, Quezon City. 

Today’s exemplary showing gives the Blue Eagles their first win of the season, as they move to 1-0 after winning every single set through five team-ties.

Captain Mika De Guzman opened the Blue Eagles’ return, winning their first Women’s Singles matchup against AdU’s Patricia Timosa, 2-0. The Season 82 Rookie of the Year’s brilliant combination of drop shots and smashes set the tone for the Blue and White.

Chanelle Lunod, Season 82 co-Most Valuable Player (MVP), carried over the team’s momentum entering the second Women’s Singles match, beating AdU’s Althea Bartolazo, 2-0. Lunod’s dizzying array of shuttle placements allowed her to score 19 consecutive points in the second set.

Meanwhile, Geia De Vera and Missy Cervantes put together a high-level performance in Ateneo’s first Doubles matchup of the tournament. The Katipunan-based tandem won the Blue Eagles’ third-straight team-tie after vanquishing Adamson’s Ivy Plata and Camille Buagas, 2-0.

Suceedingly, De Guzman and Feeby Ferrer convincingly took the second Women’s matchup at the expense of AdU’s Althea Bartolazo and Gracial Cabriga, 2-0. The Blue Eagles’ duo managed to stop any momentum by AdU, easily averting the Soaring Falcons’ comeback attempt midway through the second set, 21-12.

Jochelle Alvarez closed the Blue Eagles’ season opener with a win against Buagas in the third Women’s Singles match. During a tightly contested first set, Buagas sustained a leg injury, forcing AdU to concede the matchup.

After a long three-year layoff,  roster shake-ups inevitably impacted the powerhouse Blue Eagles. Regardless of such changes, Lunod remained dead set on establishing a rapport with her teammates as they hope for a successful title defense. 

“We had to try to reconnect and bond with each other the same way we were bonded a few years ago,” the Season 82 co-MVP said. 

The Ateneo Blue Eagles will look for another statement win as they take on the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Female Shuttlers tomorrow, 12:00 PM at the Power Up Centro Atletico Badminton Hall.

Team-Tie score: Ateneo-AdU: 5-0

First Women’s Singles: De Guzman def. Timosa, 21-10, 21-12

Second Women’s Singles: Lunod def. Bartolazo, 21-9, 21-6

First Women’s Doubles: Cervantes & De Vera def. Buagas & Plata, 21-14, 21-10

Second Women’s Doubles: De Guzman & Ferrer def. Bartolazo & Cabriga, 21-13, 21-12

Third Women’s Singles: Alvarez def. Buagas, Retire