THE ATENEO Blue and Lady Eagles fall to their opponents, University of the Philippines (UP) and University of Santo Tomas (UST), respectively, on Saturday, February 25 at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex Tennis Courts in Manila.
Lady Eagles
The Lady Eagles lost their second consecutive match after being edged out by the University of Santo Tomas to the score of 3-2, which puts them at a 0-2 record in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Women’s Tennis tournament.
Khrizelle Sampaton led off the singles matches for the Lady Eagles, beating UST’s Kendies Malinis in two sets (7-5, 6-3). Sampaton forced an error to clinch the match and the first point of the day for the Lady Eagles. Jana Pages was the second singles player for the Blue and White, as she went against Erika Manduriao of UST. Manduriao kept attacking with hard shots which earned her the victory in 2 sets (6-4, 6-2). Rookie Nicole Amistad’s heroics almost clinched the victory against UST’s Precian Rivera. Amistad struggled early on in the first set, but slowly gained confidence and started winning consecutive games. However in the second set, Amistad’s momentum was interrupted due to cramping. She finished the match nonetheless, but had to bow to Rivera (6-3, 7-5).
In the first doubles match, Rocio Climent and Alexis McLean competed against Shy Gitalan and Ingrid Gonzales. The UST pair got off to a hot start and never looked back, earning a win in 2 sets (6-1, 6-0). The second doubles match featured Jessica Agra and Jana Hernandez for Ateneo, earning the victory in three hard-fought sets against April Santos and Lenelyn Mayo of UST (6-3, 3-6, 6-3).
The Lady Eagles will have another chance to get their first win of the season on Sunday, February 26, against the University of the Philippines.
Blue Eagles
After almost coming up with the win against defending champions National University last Wednesday, February 22, the Ateneo Men’s Tennis Team lost a close match against the University of the Philippines with a score of 3-2. The men’s team is now 1-3 in the win-loss column of the UAAP Men’s Tennis tournament.
Marcen Gonzales went back and forth against Joshua Cano in the first singles match. Gonzales bounced back from losing the first set to win the second and had momentum at the beginning of the last set. Though Cano was able to force a tiebreaker and win the match (6-3, 5-7, 7-6). It was the opposite case for rookie Julian Dayrit though, as he started strong against UP’s Joel Atienza. However, Atienza took the second set with his strong serves and aggressive play. The match was also decided by a tiebreaker with Atienza barely beating the resilient Dayrit (5-7, 7-6, 7-6). Captain Ino Canlas rounded out the singles competition as the third player for Ateneo as he went up against Mikko Ringia of UP. Canlas dominated from the start and had no trouble in the match as he won in 2 sets (6-0, 6-1).
Doubles specialists Luke Flores and Erj Gatdula went up against Kyle Joseph and Elijah Arevalo in the first doubles match. Flores and Gatdula’s chemistry was back on display after their lost to NU pair Andre Manlangit and Francis Alcantara, as they were able to deceive their opponent’s defense. Joseph and Arevalo had no answer for the Blue and White duo, as Ateneo won the match in 2 sets (6-2, 6-2). It was Anton Punzalan and AJ Rivero for Ateneo against Mimo Tomacruz and Gab Gutierrez for the second doubles match. UP got off to a hot start by taking the first set, but Punzalan and Rivero battled hard each game with rallies lasting long between the pairs. Tomacruz and Gutierrez were pushed to their limits, as they needed to win 7 games to put the Ateneo duo away, they took the match with scores of (6-2, 7-5).
Singles specialist Marcen Gonzales was asked what the team can do to prepare for the last game of round tomorrow. “First, we need to [physically] recover from our game today. Nothing really needs change for tomorrow. We just have to play our game and get wins for the team,” says Gonzales.
The Blue Eagles will have their final game of the first round against UST on Sunday, February 26.
Lady Eagles
Scores: (Ateneo – UST)
1st singles: (7-5, 6-3)
2nd singles: (4-6, 2-6)
3rd singles: (3-6, 5-7)
1st doubles: (1-6, 0-6)
2nd doubles: (6-3, 3-6, 6-3)
Blue Eagles
Scores: (Ateneo – UP)
1st singles: (3-6, 7-5, 6-7)
2nd singles: (7-5, 6-7, 6-7)
3rd singles: (6-0, 6-1)
1st doubles: (6-2, 6-2)
2nd doubles: (2-6, 5-7)
The Blue Eagles lose a nail-biter against UP and the Lady Eagles fall to UST despite heroic efforts in UAAP lawn tennis.
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