THE ATENEO Blue and Lady Eagles began the second round of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Table Tennis tournament on Saturday, October 15, 2016, in the Blue Eagle Gym, Loyola Heights Quezon City. Although the team produced more encouraging performances than in the 1st round, the Blue and White were still unable to claim a win in today’s festivities.
The Lady Eagles
Doubles player Beatrice Chua played in the first singles match against NU where she fell in four sets, 5-11, 11-5, 5-11, 9-11. Hellari Calvo evened the scores afterwards with a straight set victory against NU’s Gudmalin. Meanwhile, doubles pair Trina Cruz and Sofia Ubaldo conceded the first set despite initally leading 6-0. With this disheartening loss, NU’s Jadloc and Sardalla went on to win the match in straight sets. In what turned out to be the deciding match, team captain Nikki Reyes faltered towards the end of the first and second sets in her match against NU’s Santiago (11-13, 8-11). Reyes would win the third as a consolation before conceding the fourth set, 6-11, to Santiago to end the team tie.
In the next team tie, Reyes and UP’s Capatan stood at 2 sets all after four sets. Reyes would not be able to close, however, as a 5-1 run by Capatan ended the match. In the next match, Calvo was swept aside by UP’s Ninisho in three sets (4-11, 6-11, 5-11). The pair in Cruz and Ubaldo would then lose in similar fashion against Lady Maroons Garcia and Labian.
The Lady paddlers had their closest chance at victory against the Adamson Lady Falcons as Ateneo was on the verge of a win after the first two singles matches. Calvo used her strong offensive game to win the first set, 11-7, against AdU’s Jarito. Although Calvo was able to build up a 7-2 lead in the 2nd set, Jarito climbed back into the match to tie at 9-all. Jarito used this momentum to win the second set, 11-13. The two then split the next two sets.
With the score tied at 9-all in the decider, Calvo was able to muster two straight points to take the first match for the Lady Eagles. Reyes was also able to come out victorious after a 5 set battle with AdU’s Mutuc. After losing the first two sets, 9-11, 6-11, Reyes was able to grind out 3 straight sets 12-10, 11-9, 13-11, to complete the comeback and give Ateneo a 2-0 lead in the team tie. The Lady Eagles, however, were unable to close out the Lady Falcons in the succeeding matchups. The pairing of Chua and Kime won the first set 11-7, but lost the next 3. Veteran Trina Cruz was then called upon in the 3rd singles game, but was defeated by AdU’s Ricafort in 4 sets as well. Finally, the burden came to Ubaldo, who also won the first set, before being downed 5-11, 8-11, 4-11 by Lady Falcon Obeles as Adamson snatched the elusive victory away from the Lady Eagles, 2-3.
The UST Tigresses then shut out the Lady Eagles in 3 straight matches. Reyes was overmatched by UST’s Tempiatura as the Ateneo captain fell in 3 sets. Calvo pushed UST veteran Alburo to a 5 set affair, but the Tigress coming out on top as she won the 5th set 7-11. Chua and Ganaban were then suppressed by Nagasabog and Daruko 11-4, 11-3, 11-3.
After the match day, Lady Eagle Hellari Calvo expressed her appreciation for the effort the team showed in the opening day of the second round. “As far as the team’s performance goes, everyone tried talaga, although there is always room for improvement” said the singles specialist.
The Blue Eagles
In the team tie against DLSU, Pao Rosete was comfortably beaten in straight sets, 6-11, 3-11, 2-11, as Ruiz forced errors of the blue paddler. In the second match, Jolo Matias was outmatched by Cabrido, whose offensive play earned him a comfortable victory. In the doubles match with Kyle Lao and Mikey Lagasca, DLSU’s Eder and Nones completed the sweep, winning in straight sets as well.
Matias returned as the first singles player in the team tie against UP. After conceding the first set, 8-11, Matias’ offensive play saw him take the second set 11-6. Eludo’s third set win would later be canceled out as Matias took the fourth set 11-7. Eludo, however, took a commanding lead early on in the deciding set. While Matias was able to rally from a 5-point deficit, Eludo exploited the right side of the table to end the fifth set (10-12).
The second singles match also turned out to be a 5-set affair. David Dayao and UP’s Rivera exchanged the first two sets (4-11, 11-8). In a highly contested third set, Dayao came up short in the latter stages as Rivera went on a 4-0 run to close the set (7-11). At 8-8 in the fourth set, Rivera was forced to save multiple set points. After a series of patient returns, however, Dayao took the set, 15-13. The Blue Eagle Team Captain’s resolve was tested in the fifth set where he scored four consecutive points to close the match (11-7).
In the next match, however, doubles pair Lao and Lagasca lost against UP’s Duot and Lamayan in straight sets. Although keeping pace with their UP counterparts in the first and second sets, the Blue Eagles came up short in the latter stages of the set as they lost 9-11 and 8-11, respectively. DLSU took advantage of the momentum as they comfortably took the third set, 11-4.
Meanwhile, Rosete returned as the third singles player to face UP’s Chua. After losing 7-11 in the first set, a close encounter in the second set ended 12-14 after Rosete’s return landed long of the table. In another close set, Rosete’s resolve earned him a 14-12 win. This was merely a consolation, however, as Chua closed Rosete out in the fourth set to end the team tie in favor of UP.
Matias was designated again in the first singles match against J. Villanueva in the team tie against the FEU Tamaraws. The Blue Eagles lost in close margins in the first two sets, 8-11, 9-11. but was outclassed by his counterpart in the 3rd set, 4-11. In the second singles match, Dayao split the first two sets with FEU’s De Guzman, 5-11, 11-4. The Ateneo Captain, however, also fell short in the last two sets as he lost crucial points late in both sets to settle for defeat, 9-11, 8-11. Lao and Lagasca were able to step up and pull a match back for the Blue Eagles in a 5 set contest.
After being put on the edge of defeat after going down lopsidedly 5-11, 6-11, the Ateneo tandem rallied back to take the 3rd set, 11-9. Lao and Lagasca looked like they had found a second wind as they grinded out the 4th set, 14-12, before pulling off another stunning run in the 5th set to win, 12-10, and complete the comeback against the Tamaraw duo. Pao Rosete then matched up against FEU’s singles specialist Osorno in the 3rd singles bout.
Just like in the doubles match before him, the Ateneo paddler went down 0-2 before claiming the 3rd set, 11-9. A second comeback, however, was not to be seen as Roseste fell behind by a large deficit in the 4th set before being defeated, 9-11. As the Blue Eagles were defeated by the FEU Tamaraws, 1-3.
Newcomer Andre Rondolo made his UAAP debut as the lead off singles player for the Blue Eagles against the UE Red Warriors. Rondolo struggled throughout the match as he had difficulty keeping in step with UE’s Cortez. The debutant was quickly dismissed in 3 straight sets. Fellow newcomer James Somontina then made his first appearance in the second round against UE’s Estrella.
Estrella took the first set, 9-11., before Somontina earned a come from behind victory in the second set, 12-10. The Red Warriors, then turned up his offensive game in the last two sets, making Somontina run from one of the court to the other on several points. Somontina was swept aside, 7-11, 6-11. Lao and Lagasca faced off against UE’s Africa and Valdemoro in the doubles match. Lao and Lagasca were able to claim the first set 12-10, before dropping the next two sets, 9-11, 5-11. The Blue Eagle tandem, however, drubbed their oppenents in the 4th set, 11-4.
The deciding set went down the to the wire, Lao and Lagasca were able to grind out a 12-10 score line to keep Ateneo alive in the team tie. In the 3rd singles match, however, Dayao was outclassed by UE’s Vasquez, as the Ateneo captain failed to get anything going, and lost in 3 straight sets for the Blue Eagles to fall to the Red Warriors, 1-3.
When asked about the team’s performance, Coach Edleen Llaneta said “Ang gaganda talaga ng laro, talagang malalakas lang talaga yung mga kalaban.” He also praised the team as they were able to win more matches than they did on the first day of the first round, specifically the doubles partnership of Lao and Lagasca who were able to win two matches.
