THE ATENEO Men’s Lawn Tennis team reigned supreme over the University of Santo Tomas (UST) to kick-off the second round of their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80 Men’s Tennis campaign on Saturday, February 24, at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila.
Following the match, Coach Gee Abacan noted that luck was not actually on the team’s favor, as they were not able to draw their desired matchups in a format which breeds the tournament’s unpredictability. Nevertheless, the team still managed to accomplish the task at hand to scrape the win.
True enough, the unfavorable lineups appeared to manifest on the score sheets. The first single’s game saw Blue Eagle Ino Canlas score a perfect game, completely dismantling Joel Librodo of UST, 6-0, 6-0. However, Ateneo suffered a bitter loss in the second single’s match when Bong Gonzales dropped the game against Christian Fel Lopez, 1-6, 0-6.
Meanwhile, Blue Eagle duo Julian Dayrit and Anton Punzalan extended their four-game losing streak, as the tandem dropped straight sets, 1-6, 4-6, versus Bernlou Bering and Dominic Lanzado.
Conversely, the steadily improving performance of doubles combo Luke Flores and Erj Gatdula proved to be one of the team’s brighter spots this season, as they notched the victory against Mark Cabahug and Jaffary Cariga, 7-5, 6-3. For the second straight time, Flores and Gatdula played the decisive match which enabled Ateneo to secure the win in the team-tie, 3-2.
In similar fashion to Flores and Gatdula’s high-stakes match, the most crucial victory was scored by Marcen Gonzales, who defeated long time rival Dave Mosqueda of UST in an impressive two sets, 7-6, 6-1. This match marked Gonzales’ first win over Mosqueda after numerous encounters dating back to their days in the age groupers divisions.
Coach Abacan said that the team has prepared enough for their next game because a win against rivals De La Salle University (DLSU) would increase Ateneo’s chances of a finals berth. “Of course I am proud of them. They pulled through. But tomorrow is a big match against La Salle [because] if we win, we go up 4-2, if not, we fall to 3-3.We have practiced a lot lately.”
Ateneo improves their record to 3-2 to begin their second round. The next game is against De La Salle University (DLSU) on February 25, at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila.
Team-tie Score
Ateneo 3 UST 2
Set Scores
1st Singles: Ino Canlas (Ateneo) def. Joel Librodo (UST), 6-0, 6-0.
2nd Singles: Christian Fel Lopez (UST) def. Bong Gonzales (Ateneo), 6-1, 6-0.
3rd Singles: Marcen Gonzales (Ateneo) def. Dave Mosqueda (UST), 7-6, 6-1.
1st Doubles: Bernlou Bering and Dominic Lanzado (UST) def. Julian Dayrit and Anton Punzalan (Ateneo), 6-1, 6-4.
2nd Doubles: Luke Flores and Erj Gatdula (Ateneo) def. Mark Cabahug and Jaffary Cariga (UST), 7-5, 6-3.
