SPORTS | GODLIKE! PSU-UC dominates University Meet, sweeps PSU-Lingayen to secure SCUAA ticket

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — A perfect run for a golden feat. Pangasinan State University – Urdaneta City Campus (PSU-UC) exhibited their superb playing style to snag Regional State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) berth, pulling off a 2-0 sweep over PSU-Lingayen in their best-of-three finals of the 2022 University Meet on October 10-11. The PSU-UC MLBB team went berserk right from the get-go, demolishing every opponent they encountered to finish the tournament with a perfect 12-0 record, enough to qualify for the following Regional SCUAA. Even though the squad had two days to prepare for their first game, team coach Engr. Kenneth Viray admitted that he selected each player based on their individual talents. “Nagpa-try out ako via online, pumili ako ng mga magagaling. Hindi ako nagfocus sa by team, sa individual stats ang tinignan ko sa kanila,” told Viray in an interview. PSU-UC fielded a balance draft with Barats on the jungle, Claude, Esmeralda, Yve, and Franco to counter the host campus line up in game one. The Viray-mentored squad started aggressively, spearheaded by Edrian Ely “Endeavor” Sarlatan’s Esmeralda, who invaded the enemy team’s jungle, providing information for the rest of the gang while getting favorable trades and objectives in the early game. As the game progresses, John Menard “XENNAVIAA” Aguinaldo’s Barats and team captain Xyrus Charlson “KNUCKLES” Valdez with his Claude took advantage the buy time of Sarlatan’s Esmeralda to buy their core items before wreaking havoc to the other team. From there, PSU-UC kept a commanding lead until the game’s 23rd minute. When they spotted an opening, they made the best of it to acquire the lord and force a clash in the opposition’s base, which was highlighted by Sarlatan’s triple kill to put an end to the match. Cipriano Rj “Akiii” Santos was named as the match MVP with his Yve, delivering eight kills, 15 assists with two deaths, while Sarlatan put up a 9-5-7 KDA, finishing the game with 27-14 kill difference. In game two, the Urdaneta-based campus quintet drafted a sustained composition, retaining Sarlatan’s Esmeralda and Aguinaldo’s Barats with Jay-R “Eleazarr” Eleazar’s Grock manning the frontline, while Valdez and Santos picked Melissa and Julian, respectively for the damage. PSU-UC continued to make the most of their strong draft, getting objective after objective to overwhelm their foes in the first eight-minute of the game with an eight thousand gold advantage. The Lingayen-based quintet tried to cut the deficit and force a deciding game three, but PSU-UC’s damage was too much to handle. The SCUAA-bound team subsequently made easy work of killing the lord at the 12:36 point of the game, taking out every threat that came their way to finally wrap up the series. With the win, Valdez’s Melissa grabbed the MVP honors with an almost perfect 5-1-6 KDA, while Santos’ Julian and Sarlatan’s Esmeralda tallied 11 kills and seven assists. Valdez, Aguinaldo, Sarlatan, Santos, Eleazar, and Ryan Michael “rgdc” Cabillete will vie to repeat their undefeated campaign in the Regional SCUAA. Editor | Christian Niturada, Sports Editor Creative Works | Jeric Motea, Creative Edit