THE ATENEO Lady Eagles suffered their second successive defeat of the season at the hands of rivals De La Salle University (DLSU) on Sunday, October 1 at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.
The team-tie ended at 1-4 in favor of the Taft-based university, with Lady Eagle Bianca Carlos managing to get the only win of the day.
This loss puts the Lady Eagles at a 3-2 win-loss record in the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
Still undefeated in all her UAAP singles matches, Carlos took on DLSU’s Aira Albo in the first set. The Blue and White veteran faced an uphill battle after conceding the first set, but managed to keep her focus in the following sets, taking the first match at 12-21, 21-14, 21-9.
Fellow Blue and White Trixie Malibiran faced Lady Archer Monica Rivera in a bid to extend Ateneo’s advantage over the rivals. While Malibiran dominated the first set and neared a match point in the second set, a late push from Rivera proved enough to throw off her opponent. Rivera closed the third and final set to balance out the team-tie scores. The match finished at 21-14, 19-21, 14-21.
The first doubles of the team-tie saw Ateneo’s Carlos and Chanelle Lunod reunite as they took on Albo and Alyssa Isabel Leonardo of DLSU. Carlos and Lunod started out slowly, but managed to find their rhythm as both sides split the first two sets. The third set went down to the wire, with DLSU eventually claiming the victory at 15-21, 21-18, 19-21.
Doubles specialist Geva De Vera paired up with Malibiran, hoping to keep Ateneo’s chances to win the team-tie alive. The Blue and White tandem took on their DLSU counterparts, Lindsay Tercias and Mariya Sevilla. The match followed in the same pattern as its predecessors, as Ateneo climbed up in the initial stages of the set, only to falter towards the finish line. De Vera and Malibiran conceded the match and the team-tie with a final score of 18-21, 19-21.
Lady Eagles skipper Cassie Lim was the last of the Ateneo team to take to the court. Lim looked bright in the opening stages of the match, but faded as the match wore on. Despite overcoming a triple match point in the first set, Lim stumbled close to getting a set-win. Lady Archer Sevilla took advantage of this, eventually finishing the match in straight sets at 20-22, 18-21.
In light of the promising start to the season, the Lady Eagles will be looking to make amends in the final round against University of Santo Tomas (UST). The team finds itself in a similar situation as last season, sitting right behind league-leaders University of the Philippines (UP) and second-placed DLSU. To secure a shot at taking the title from UP, the women’s team will need to take the next team-tie.
The Lady Eagles will face UST on Thursday, October 5 at 1:00 PM at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.
Match Score
Ateneo 1 DLSU 4
Set Scores
First Women’s Singles (Carlos vs. Albo): 12-21, 21-14, 21-9
Second Women’s Singles (Malibiran vs. Rivera): 21-14, 19-21, 14-21
First Women’s Doubles (Carlos and Lunod vs. Albo and Leonardo): 15-21, 21-18, 19-21
Second Women’s Doubles (De Vera and Malibiran vs. Tercias and Sevilla): 18-21, 19-21
Third Women’s Singles (Lim vs. Sevilla): 20-22, 18-21
