THE ATENEO Blue and Lady Eagles ended their collegiate campaign on Day 7 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80 Table Tennis tournament on Wednesday, October 4 at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman College of Human Kinetics Gym in Quezon City.

The Blue Eagles closed out Season 80 without an elusive victory at 0-14 while the Lady Eagles were able to secure a 2-12 record, an improvement from their winless Season 79 travail.

Blue Eagles

The Blue and White suffered a sweep against their opponents from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in the first game of the final day of competition. Jigo Sison was taken down by UST paddler Chebuel Andaloc in the first singles match. After a composed performance by Sison in the first set, things began to go downhill as Andaloc swept the Blue Eagle, 8-11, 2-11, 5-11.

Down 0-1 in the team-tie score, the Blue Eagles sent David Dayao into action against Reymark Mabuang of UST in the second singles match. Similar to Sison, Dayao competed well in the first set, giving Mabuang a small margin of victory at 9-11. As the match progressed, unforced errors got the better of Dayao as he lost to Mabuang in straight sets, 6-11, 6-11.

With the momentum against their side, the Blue Eagle pair Andre Rondolo and Jasper Sy fought bravely against UST’s Mendoza and Tunay to keep the game alive, only to fall in straight sets, 8-11, 7-11, 6-11. The team finished 0-3, falling to UST.

The next game pitted Ateneo against Far Eastern University (FEU) and spelled the same result, with rookie Edric Carlos losing to FEU’s Villanueva in a five-set thriller, 9-11, 11-8, 7-11, 12-10, 6-11. Jolo Matias also took his match to five sets, but was not able to clinch a victory against FEU’s Christian Villanueva, 8-11, 2-11, 11-8, 11-8, 7-11.

Ateneo tandem James Somontina and Pao Rosete played in the final match of the season, but they fell to the Tamaraw duo of John Santiago and Kenth Caballero. Their match ended in three straight sets, 5-11, 7-11, 5-11.

Yet another hard-fought defeat on the last day of eliminations saw the Blue Eagles call a close to their UAAP campaign, exiting the season with a winless pedigree.

Lady Eagles

The first matchup of the Women’s Division sent Hellari Calvo and FEU’s Rose Fadol to the tables. Losing the first two sets at 4-11 and 6-11, Calvo managed to snag an 11-9 win in the third set before losing the match in the fourth.

The second match was a tightly-contested game between team captain Jane Dela Cruz and FEU’s Sham Pineda. The two edged the match for five sets, but in the end it was Pineda who emerged victorious, dominating the last set, 11-6.

A struggling Ateneo side dispatched the pair of Cruz and Chen, who faced the team of Airah Alzado and Josephine Talay with hopes of turning things around for the Blue and White. Their efforts fell short as they lost the match in four sets, 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 3-11 to surrender the team-tie.

The next game was against the Lady Falcons from Adamson University (AdU). Calvo represented the Lady Eagles once again, but this time, she clinched a victory in the first singles match against AdU’s Maryvette Obeles, 11-8, 15-17, 11-4, 11-2. The winning streak went on as Dela Cruz won her joust with Lady Falcon Letzy Jarito in three straight sets, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9.

Ateneo’s luck, however, ran out in the first doubles match, where Cruz combined forces with Sharmae Ong. The pair lost against the Adamson duo of Alicia Chavez and Yvonne Pangantijon, 4-11, 6-11, 11-6, 6-11. The next singles match was lost as well, with Chen taken down by AdU’s Ricafort, 12-11, 9-11, 5-11, 8-11.

Nikki Reyes played the last match against Lady Falcon Patricia Gomez in another five-set stunner, 2-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 7-11 to cap off the campaign for the Lady Eagles in Season 80.

Looking forward  
In comparison to past seasons, team captain Dela Cruz noticed the steady, but slow improvement that the team has made. “Actually, I think we got better than last year,” she shared. “Last year, we didn’t have a win, [and] now we have two, so I think [our performance] got better.

Ting Ledesma, the Ateneo Table Tennis Program Head, also shared a forward-looking and patient mindset for Ateneo on the college tables.

“Together we go out and fight, have tournaments and more tournaments to join para ma-boost naman fighting spirit nila,” he said.

Set Scores

Blue Eagles

Ateneo 0 UST 3

First Men’s Singles (Sison vs. Andaloc): 8-11, 2-11, 5-11

Second Men’s Singles (Dayao vs. Mabuang): 9-11, 6-11, 6-11

First Men’s Doubles (Rondolo and Sy vs. Mendoza and Tunay)

Ateneo 0 FEU 3

First Men’s Singles (Carlos vs. L. Villanueva): 9-11, 11-8, 7-11, 12-10, 6-11

Second Men’s Singles (Matias vs. C. Villanueva): 8-11, 2-11, 11-8, 11-8, 7-11.  

First Men’s Doubles (Rosete and Somontina vs. Caballero and Santiago): 5-11, 7-11, 5-11

Lady Eagles

Ateneo 0 FEU 3

First Women’s Singles (Calvo vs. Fadol): 4-11, 6-11, 11-9, 5-11

Second Women’s Singles (Dela Cruz vs. Pineda): 10-12, 11-8, 4-11, 11-8, 6-11

First Women’s Doubles (Chen and Cruz vs Alzado and Talay): 9-11, 7-11, 11-6, 3-11

Ateneo 2 AdU 3

First Women’s Singles (Calvo vs. Obeles): 11-8, 15-17, 11-4, 11-2

Second Women’s Singles (Dela Cruz vs. Jarito): 11-9, 12-10, 11-9

First Women’s Doubles (Cruz and Ong vs. Chavez and Pangantijon): 4-11, 6-11, 11-6, 6-11

Third Women’s Singles (Chen vs. Ricafort): 12-11, 9-11, 5-11, 8-11

Fourth Women’s Singles (Reyes vs. Gomez): 2-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 7-11

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