THE ATENEO Blue Eagles ended round one of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 85 Women’s Lawn Tennis Tournament with a resounding 4-1 victory against the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Tennisters. The Ateneo Women’s Lawn Tennis Team (AWLTT) battled it out with their archrivals earlier today at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in the City of Manila.
Star sophomore Althea Ong began the AWLTT’s journey against their DLSU archrivals with a 6-2 victory in the first set against Eliana Misa. Ong then clobbered her Lady Tennister foe with an impressive 6-0 sweep in the second set to give the Blue and White its first team-tie point of the match.
Heading into the first Doubles matchup, the Ateneo duo of Tracy Llamas and Mariam Garsin momentarily lagged behind their DLSU-counterparts Angelica Alcala and Jazzelle Madis. However, a more aggressive playstyle allowed the Blue Eagles pairing to bounce back, 7-5, and eventually clinch the first set. It was smooth sailing for the Blue Eagles from there as they ended the second set, 6-3, in their favor. Garsin and Llamas’ indubitable synergy allowed Ateneo to climb up to an early 2-0 team-tie lead versus DLSU.
Eager to sustain the AWLTT’s winning ways, veteran Melanie Dizon took on DLSU’s star player Mikaela Vicencio in the second Singles bout. The Blue Eagle escaped a tight first set against Vicencio, 6-4. Come the second set, Dizon maintained her Lady Tennister equal’s deficit, 6-2, to put Ateneo at the team-tie advantage, 3-0.
Meanwhile, the rookie duo of Nina Sandejas and Noelle Urgello faced DLSU’s veteran pairing of Aubrey Calma and Arianne Nillasca in the second Doubles matchup of the day. The experienced Lady Tennisters defeated the Blue and White in two sets, 6-1, 6-0—marking DLSU’s first team-tie point, 3-1.
After braving through a lengthy matchup, Francesca Cruz then sealed Ateneo’s successful run against DLSU by soaring past Lady Tennister Beatrice Gomez in three sets, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-2.
Ateneo now holds an equal 2-2 win-loss record after the first round of the Women’s Lawn Tennis Tournament. This brings the Blue Eagles up to a three-way tie with the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Lady Tennisters and the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons.
The Blue Eagles will look to open round two of the UAAP Season 85 games with another win against the UST Lady Tennisters tomorrow, March 26, at 1:00 PM.
Women’s Team-Tie Score: Ateneo-DLSU: 4-1
First Women’s Singles: Ong def. Misa, 6-0, 6-2
First Women’s Doubles: Llamas & Garsin def. Madis & Alcala, 7-5, 6-3
Second Women’s Singles: Dizon def. Vicencio, 6-4, 6-2
Second Women’s Doubles: N. Sandejas & Urgello fell to Calma & Nillasca, 1-6, 0-6
Third Women’s Singles: Cruz def. Gomez, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-2
