THE ATENEO Men’s and Women’s Table Tennis teams began their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80 campaign on Saturday, September 23, at the University of the Philippines-Diliman College of Human Kinetics Gym in Quezon City.

The results after Day 1 put both the Blue and Lady Eagles at 0-2 in the elimination round standings of the Table Tennis tournament.

Lady Eagles

The Lady Eagles struggled to snag wins in their first two matchups of the season against National University (NU) and University of the Philippines (UP).

The Lady Eagles had a rough start, facing tough competition against the NU Lady Bulldogs, who stole the win at 3-1. The Lady Eagles showed promise early on, with team captain Jane Dela Cruz keeping within stride of NU’s Avegail Rodriguez. After dropping the first two sets, 6-11, 5-11, Dela Cruz managed to win the third set, 11-7, but dropped the last, 9-11.

In the second singles matchup, Hellari Calvo won against NU’s Bañares in three sets 0-11, 5-11, 5-11 to even the team tie at one apiece. Lady Eagles Trina Cruz and Sharmane Ong kept the scores close in the first two sets of the first women’s doubles match, 8-11, 11-13, but were outclassed in the third set, 2-11, giving the match to their NU counterparts, Ramirez and Albandia. Lady Eagle Nikki Reyes was matched up with NU’s Garcia in the third singles contest, which finished in straight-set 8-11, 6-11, 5-11, to close out the team tie for the Lady Bulldogs.

The matchup against UP also ended in defeat for the Lady Eagles at a team tie score of 3-1. Coming from a straight-set victory against NU, Calvo remained undefeated on the day after a heated matchup against UP’s Capatan. Calvo snagged three of the five sets, 10-12,11-9,11-7, 7-11, 11-7.

Things started to slow down again for the Lady Eagles in their succeeding matchups against the Fighting Maroons. Dela Cruz fought hard against C. Ching, making it through four sets, 10-12, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5, but dropping the fifth due to an overhit shot, 6-11. In the doubles match, Cruz and Ong suffered yet another loss to their UP counterparts, falling in three out of four sets, 9-11, 11-5, 7-11, 10-12.

Rookie Joana Chen made her UAAP debut against UP veteran Richanda Ching. Despite having high hopes to tie the game, Chen struggled, losing in three straight sets, 7-11, 9-11, 3-11.

Despite the losses in both events Dela Cruz, remains optimistic entering into Day 2 of the tournament. “I didn’t perform as expected, but we all tried our best,” she said. “We just all need to rest well tonight and review our performances to check what we can improve on pa.”

Blue Eagles

No different from the Lady Eagles, the men’s team faced back-to-back defeats in their first two events of the season against the Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws and the University of the East (UE) Red Warriors.

In the match against FEU, David Dayao suited up against FEU’s L. Villanueva. Although Dayao lost in three straight sets 8-11, 5-11, 8-11, Jolo Matias made amends in the second singles match as he dominated FEU’s Jaro in three sets, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5. It was through the pressure of his offense, which forced a number of errors upon his opponent that tied up the match at 1-1. Despite the confidence gained after Matias’ win, the Blue Eagles’ woes continued in their succeeding doubles matchup as the Ateneo duo of Sy and Andre Rondolo fell to FEU’s Caballero and Santiago, 4-11, 3-11, 7-11. This was also the case in the third singles contest between Blue Eagle James Somontina who dropped three straight sets against FEU’s Villanueva, 3-11, 3-11, 7-11, as the Blue Eagles conceded team tie at 1-3.

The match against UE ended quickly as the Blue Eagles failed to keep up with the Red Warriors’ stellar offensive performance. In the first singles match, Matias narrowly lost the first two sets, 10-12, 11-13, but was unable to get over the hump as he dropped the third set as well, 7-11. Dayao, who played with UE’s Estrella in the second singles match, also succumbed to defeat in straight sets, 7-11, 10-12, 2-11. Although Ateneo tried a different doubles pairing of Rondolo and Pao Rosete against UE’s Benoya and Wu, the Blue Eagle tandem were still beaten 8-11, 5-11, 4-11, ending the team tie with another defeat at 0-3.

Team captain Rosete was proud of his team despite Day 1’s results. Given that the team consists of mostly rookies, Rosete shared that seeing their fighting spirit gives him more motivation to do better in upcoming events. “What we need to do is meditate and focus more, despite having the other teams’ cheers overpower us,” Rosete said.

Day 2 will commence on Sunday, September 24 at the University of the Philippines-Diliman College of Human Kinetics Gym in Quezon City.  

Team Tie and Set Scores

Lady Eagles

Ateneo-NU: 1-3

First Women’s Singles (Dela Cruz vs Rodriguez): 6-11, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11

Second Women’s Singles (Calvo vs Bañares): 11-0, 11-5, 11-5

First Women’s Doubles (Cruz and Ong vs Ramirez and Albandia): 8-11, 11-13, 2-11

Third Women’s Singles (Reyes vs Garcia): 8-11, 6-11, 5-11

Ateneo-UP: 1-3

First Women’s Singles (Calvo vs Capatan): 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7

Second Women’s Singles (Dela Cruz vs Ching): 10-12, 11-7, 6-11, 11-5, 6-11

First Women’s Doubles (Cruz and Ong vs Labian and Suarez): 9-11, 11-5, 7-11, 10-12

Third Women’s Singles (Chen vs Ching): 7-11, 9-11, 3-11

Blue Eagles

Ateneo-FEU: 1-3

First Men’s Singles (Dayao vs Villanueva): 8-11, 5-11, 8-11

Second Men’s Singles (Matias vs Jaro): 11-8, 12-10, 11-5

First Men’s Doubles (Sy and Rondolo vs Caballero and Santiago): 4-11, 3-11, 7-11

Third Men’s Singles: (Somontina vs Villanueva) 3-11, 3-11, 7-11

Ateneo-UE: 0-3

First Men’s Singles (Matias vs Cortez): 10-12, 11-13, 7-11

Second Men’s Singles (Dayao vs Estrella): 7-11, 10-12, 2-11

First Men’s Doubles (Rondolo and Rosete vs Benoya and Wu): 8-11, 5-11, 4-11