THE ATENEO Blue and Lady Eagles competed in day four of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Table Tennis tournament on Monday, October 17 at the Blue Eagle Gym in Loyola Heights, Katipunan.
Both the blue and lady paddlers were winless heading into the final day of the elimination round and a day’s worth of competition was not able to change the barren run of the Blue and White in the tournament thus far.
The Lady Eagles
The Lady Eagles began their final day of action with a team tie against the Far Eastern University (FEU) Lady Tamaraws, Captain Nikki Reyes was rolled by FEU’s Gabutin in the first two sets, 5-11, 8-11. The Lady Eagle, however, was able to grind out a 14-12 victory in the third set to stay afloat. Gabutin recovered to take the fourth set, 11-5, and the first match for FEU. In the second singles match, Hellari Calvo also fell to her FEU counterpart, Fadol, in four sets, 2-11, 12-10, 7-11, 2-11. The Lady Eagles tandem of Trina Cruz and Sofia Ubaldo were called upon to face FEU’s Sacay and Talay. The FEU duo raced out to an 2-8 lead in the first set, which they took (3-11). Cruz and Ubaldo were able to put up a better fight in the second set, but fell short, 8-11. The Ateneo tandem called a timeout going down 5-8 in the third set to regroup. Cruz and Ubaldo were able to get a few points back, but the comeback was not one, as they dropped the last set, 9-11, as FEU mowed over the Lady Eagles, 0-3, to take the team tie.
The Lady Eagles would then suffer the same fate at the hands of archrivals, the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Archers in their 10AM contest. In the opening singles match, DLSU’s Sy rolled over Calvo in straight sets, 2-11, 6-11, 7-11. Reyes then lost to DLSU’s Dael in the same manner. Reyes had her best chance at taking a set when she drew level at 7-all in the second set, but faltered late in the set to lose, 9-11. Rookie Patricia Kime was then slotted alongside Beatrice Chua for the doubles match against DLSU’s Co and Bernaldez. Kime sent her forehand return long as the pair lost the first set, 4-11. The DLSU pair then used a strong serve and smash combination to take the second set, 5-11. Kime and Chua were able to gain an early 4-3 lead in the 3rd set, but quickly lost momentum to drop the set, 5-11, as the Lady Archers defeated the Lady Eagles within the hour mark.
In the last team tie for the Lady Eagles, Chua replaced Reyes as the first singles player. Despite dropping the first set, 5-11, Chua came up with a fight in the second and third sets where UE’s Vasquez pulled away towards the latter stages to win 10-12 and 9-11, respectively. Afterwards, Calvo and UE’s Garrucho exchanged set, 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 4-11, which led to a fifth set. Garrucho maintained the momentum and Calvo’s missed down-the-line effort surrendered the set (4-11) to Garrucho. Meanwhile, doubles pair Cruz and Ubaldo took an early lead in the first set. The UE pair in Lague and Manggubat, however, persisted and took the first set after a 7-stroke rally ended with a smash to the net from Cruz. After falling 8-11 in the second set, Cruz and Ubaldo established a 7-0 lead to start the third set. They would narrowly escape a comeback from UE as they secured an 11-9 win. Cruz’s long return, however, ended the campaign of the lady paddlers as they dropped the fourth set, 4-11.
The Blue Eagles
Captain David Dayao began the match day with a victory against NU’s Sta. Ana in singles action. Dayao smashed a Sta. Ana serve to claim the first set in convincing fashion, 11-3. In the second set, Sta. Ana was able to score two straight points to win, 9-11, and tie at 1 set apiece. Dayao was able to regain his advantage, using his serve wisely to win 11-9. The Ateneo captain then sealed the match in the 4th set, 11-7, with a service ace. Newcomer Lester Violeta then made his UAAP debut against NU’s Misal. Misal used a defensive style of play sets as the Bulldog was content to move away from the table to bait Violeta into errors on smash attempts. Violeta was swept aside, 6-11, 1-11, 4-11. The Ateneo pair of Lao and Lagasca then fell to NU’s Ramirez and Villamor in straight sets. Several errors by both Blue Eagles caused them to drop the first two sets, 5-11, 9-11. In the third set, the Blue Eagles called a timeout as they found themselves in a 0-5 ditch. Although Lao and Lacagsa were able to recover after the break and string together a run, the Blue Eagles came up short, losing the set, 8-11, and the match, as NU were one victory away from notching the team tie. Junior Pao Rosete had the task of keeping Ateneo alive in the third singles match against NU’s Cubio Jr. Errors from the Blue Eagle proved to be his downfall as he was defeated in three hard-fought sets. Rosete dropped two crucial points late in the first set as he was downed, 11-13. Although Rosete was able to take a 5-3 lead in the second set, errors hampered the Blue Eagle as he lost the set, 7-11. Rosete came close to winning the 3rd set as he scored a forehand winner to take a 11-10 lead. Cubio Jr. then took 3 straight points to seal the set, 11-13, and the victory for the NU Bulldogs over the Blue Eagles, 1-3.
Jolo Matias saw his first action of the day against UST’s Ablanque in the first singles match. Matias took the first set, 11-9 after going on a 3 point run capped off with a service ace. Ablanque bounced back in the 2nd set as he used powerful smashes to take the set, 5-11. Ablanque seemed to have found his groove as he continuously forced Matias backward to settle for defensive lobs as the Tiger claimed the next two sets to take the match for UST.
Dayao then matched up against UST’s Nayre in the following affair. Crucial backhand errors late in sets hampered Dayao as Nayre took a two sets to none lead, 8-11, 9-11. Nayre then used a lighting quick serve to put away Dayao in the third set, 6-11. Lao and Lagasca then dropped their first two sets, 6-11, 7-11, against UST’s Tunay and Mendoza. With the score tied at 9-all in the third set, Lagasca was able to get a backhand service ace, followed by a forehand winner by Lao for the blue side to take the set, 11-9. Although the Ateneo duo was able to build up a 7-3 lead using a mix of defensive and offensive tactics, the UST pair was able to rally back to tie at 8-8. The Blue Eagles were able to take a 12-11 lead, crucial miscues by both Lao and Lagasca did the pair in as they lost the set, 12-14, as UST claimed the team tie in 3 straight matches.
In the last matchup for the blue paddlers, Matias stepped up and swept ADU’s Cruz in straight sets, 11-1, 11-5, 11-5, after his patient play baits errors off his ADU counterpart. In the second singles match, Dayao found himself two sets down against Balanquit as the latter pulled away after several lead changes in the first and second sets (8-11, 8-11). Dayao would mount a comeback, however, taking the third and the fourth sets, 11-6, 11-8, to extend the match. Despite gaining an early advantage in the decider, Dayao found himself down 5-9 against Balanquit. Despite a valiant effort from Dayao, Balanquit’s steady play won him the match as the ADU player took the fifth set, 7-11.
In the doubles match, Lao and Lagasca returned to face ADU’s Enal and Octavo. Both teams exchanged the first and second sets but the ADU duo pulled away as they continued the momentum from their third-set win to breeze through the fourth set, 4-11.
Rosete was then called upon to extend the tie. While Rosete kept pace with Coraza in the first set, four straight points from the latter secured him the first set, 7-11. In a thrilling second set, Rosete was able to keep up with Coraza’s offensive play to take the set, 14-12. Afterwards, Coraza’s third-set win was canceled out by a comfortable 11-5 fourth-set for the Blue Eagle. In another nail-bitter, Rosete rallied from a 4-8 deficit to tie the set at 10 all after Coraza failed to return the former’s smash. In the final rally of the match, a quick combination for Coraza started with a well placed serve that set him up for a winner that Rosete was not able to return. The ADU player went on to take the set, 13-11, ending the Blue Eagles’ run this season.
As the Season 79 ends for the Blue and Lady Eagles, there were noticeable improvements in the level of play of the blue and lady paddlers, evident in the several heartbreaking 5-set losses and tight set scores that saw the opponents pull away towards the end of the sets.
“They have all improved,” said Ateneo Table Tennis Program Head Ting Ledesma. Despite a barren run in the tourney, Ledesma notes that they must keep themselves motivated and hungry heading into their preparations for next year.
