AS PART of their preparations for the upcoming University Athletics Association of the Philippines season, the Ateneo Men’s and Women’s Lawn Tennis Teams competed in the the 8th Olivarez Cup Tennis Championship held last August 11 to 15. While inconsistency marked most of their performances, the team showed some bright spots during the tournament.
Day 1: Struggling early
Blue Eagles Bong Gonzales, Marcen Gonzales, Julian Dayrit, and team captain Ino Canlas competed in the Men’s Singles divisions on the tournament’s opening day.
Bong Gonzales hoped to get the Blue Eagles off to a flying start in the first match of the day against Raymond Diaz, but was unable to contain his opponent. Gonzales bowed out of the tournament, 3-6, 2-6, after struggling to put together a string of wins to sway the tie in his favor.
Marcen Gonzales was next to take the court in his matchup with University of the East’s Rodolfo Barquin. After being swept in the first set, Gonzales responded with a stronger challenge but ultimately fell short, losing the match after the second set, 4-6. The loss spelled his elimination from the tournament.
Team captain Ino Canlas suited up after the team’s early setbacks in a tightly contested three-set match against John Accion of National University (NU). Canlas struggled to find his rhythm, dropping his first set, 2-6. Canlas picking up his form in the second set as he and Accion traded close games until the score was tied, 3-3. From there, Canlas was able to pull away to win, 6-3, and set the stage for sudden death. Canlas sealed a stunning comeback in the final set with a 10-7 finish, the Blue Eagle’s first win of the day.
Looking to build on Canlas’ hard-earned victory, Dayrit was determined to overcome his matchup against Enderun College’s Andre Cacha. Dayrit dominated from the get-go as he won the game with four straight aces. Dayrit’s victory was a perfect 4-0, 4-0, boosting the team’s overall performance that day.
Unfortunately, Canlas dropped his second match of the day against Rolando Ruel Jr., 4-6, 2-6, eliminating him from the tournament. Though he was able to challenge Ruel in a back-and-forth first set, Canlas was weighed down by fatigue and a fit of cramps from his first match.
Day 2: Blue Eagles show positives
On the tournament’s second day, Dayrit’s impressive footwork and technique fueled his triumph over the University of Perpetual Help’s Kenneth Dumapit. Despite close games, Dayrit came out on top yet again 4-0, 4-0.
Meanwhile, Blue Eagles Luke Flores and Erj Gatdula also grabbed important wins in the men’s doubles division against inter-schoolers Kyle Parpran and Diego Dasilay with the first two sets split 6-3, 5-7. The last set ultimately decided the match, 13-11.
“Overall, we are playing good but we could definitely do better. We’ve lost a couple of games already but we’re learning from the mistakes we’ve made and are using this as motivation to train harder and [to] get better,” Dayrit said.
Day 3: Finishing strong
The Blue Eagles saw victory on their last day in the tournament, with Gatdula and Flores taking a win by default, and Dayrit winning his final match in just two sets again against College of Saint Benilde’s (CSB) Reyes 4-2, 4-2.
Meanwhile, Lady Eagles Jana Pages, Samantha Martin, Katrina Hernandez, and Camille So debuted on the tournament’s third day with five wins.
Jana Pages started the day with a dominating display against CSB’s Bea Ebriega. The one-sided bout ended in two sets, 4-0, 4-2. However, Pages came up short in her second match against Sydney Enriquez from De La Salle Zobel (DLSZ). After struggling in the second set, Pages showed signs of life in the third set as she took an 8-6 lead. Unfortunately, it was not enough to secure the win. The back-and-forth nail biter ended at 5-3, 0-4, 9-11.
Samantha Martin and Katrina Hernandez both had dominating performances in their singles matches against St. Scholastica’s College (SSC) and Adamson University (AdU), respectively.
Martin swept her SSC opponent, winning eight games straight with her tactical returns and perceptive court awareness. The match finished with a lopsided 4-0, 4-0 score. Similarly, Katrina Hernandez faced little resistance in her match, getting two perfect sets as well.
Despite her promising start, Martin lost the following match against NU’s Alliah Ragunton, failing to win even a single set. Jana Hernandez met a similar fate against DLSZ’s Bliss Bayking, 0-4, 0-4.
Although it only lasted for one set, Camille So’s first match of the day against Clarizza Caorte of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) ended with a victory, with a set score of 5-4.
So did not stop there as she continued to triumph in her second match of the day against SSC. The first two sets went back-and-forth at 5-3 and 4-5 respectively. As So raced from side to side to strategically return bullet shots down the line, the Lady Eagle came out on top with a one-sided 10-4 victory in the final set. Once again, stamina proved to be one of the many valuable weapons in So’s arsenal, securing her two wins for the day.
Day 4: Mixed results
The fourth day of the tournament featured So in singles and doubles action with her partner, Martina Bautista. The pairing of team captain Jana Hernandez and Annika Mallari also saw doubles action.
So continued dominating the singles division as she won her quarterfinals match against UST’s Patricia Velez. The match ended after the first set at 4-2, following her opponent bowing out early. However, she lost her semifinals bout against UST’s Alexi Santos, 0-4, 0-4.
So also played in the doubles division with her partner, Martina Bautista and breezed through the first two rounds. They reached the quarterfinals where their run came to an end against UST’s Santos and Erika Manduriao. The match score was 1-4, 0-4.
Annika Mallari and Jana Hernandez also represented the Blue and White in the doubles competition. They cruised through the first round and finished the fourth day of the tournament with a win in the second round against Woodrose School’s Trini Daco and Thea Saria. Mallari and Hernandez beat their opponents in two sets, 4-1, 4-0.
Day 5: Lady Eagles bow out
The fifth day of the tournament featured Annika Mallari and Jana Hernandez continuing in doubles competition. They made it to the quarterfinals where their streak came to a close. They lost to Bea Acena and Renee Acena of St. Mary’s College in two sets, 1-4, 1-4.
Though neither the men’s nor women’s teams found as much success as they would have liked, men’s captain Canlas captured both squads’ focus on a greater goal.
“We’re still lacking and have got a long way to go, but the good news is that we have a lot of time before and that we will learn from what happened today. After this tournament is when we’ll really pick up our focus in training and preparation.”
He also pointed to a well-earned rest period and a lack of competitive tennis in the summer as factors in the team’s rusty showing. “Right now, our focus is on not burning out,” says Canlas. “Last year, we focused a lot on pacing the peaks and rest periods in our training and we want to do that well again this season.”
