The Ateneo Blue and Lady Eagles faced their counterparts from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in the first round of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Tennis tournament on Sunday, February 11, at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila.

Blue Eagles

The inspired efforts of the Blue Eagles finally put themselves in the win after dropping their first two consecutive games. The Blue and White improve their record to 1-2, right in the middle of the standings.

Team Captain Ino Canlas was up to his usual self, easily dispatching UST’s Dave Mosqueda, 6-1, 6-3. His clinical performance garnered Ateneo its first point in the team-tie.

Center court saw the thriller in the first doubles contest of Ateneo pair Luke Flores and Erj Gatdula against Mark Cabahug and En-En Lopez from UST. Following two sets of action (6-4, 5-7), the Eagles eventually fell in the third set, 3-6.

Tied at 1-1 in the team-tie at this point, it was a special day for rookie Bong Gonzales who marked his first victory in the UAAP Seniors Division. In the second singles game, he defeated Growling Tiger Jaffary Cariga, 7-6, 6-2 (6-4 tiebreaker).

After the first three simultaneous games were completed, the deciding match was played between Blue Eagle Marcen Gonzales and UST’s Laurence Obdina. The crucial win concluded in a very convincing fashion in favor of Ateneo, 6-0, 6-1.

With Ateneo already winning three out of five games, the final match of the day featured Julian Dayrit and Anton Punzalan versus Growling Tigers Bernlou Bering and Dominic Lanzado. An error-riddled showing by the duo of Dayrit and Punzalan ultimately cost them the game, 3-6, 4-6. This concluded Day 3 of the Men’s campaign with a team-tie score of 3-2 over UST.

The team’s driven effort was fueled by the fear of dropping three consecutive games. “Coach Gee and I told the boys that we have to win this game no matter what. If we lose, we have to go up from 0-3 and that’s very hard to do,” said Ateneo Coach PJ Tierro.

The team will suit up against the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons on Sunday, February 18, 12:00 NN, at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila, for their final game in the first round.

Lady Eagles

In what was a down to the wire affair, the Lady Eagles fell to the UST Golden Tigresses with the team-tie score of 2-3.

In the first singles match, Lady Eagle Khrizelle Sampaton faced Marie Ann San Jose from UST who stretched the Lady Eagle to a tiebreak in the first set. San Jose stood her ground on defense, forcing Sampaton to take extra shots that opened opportunities for unforced errors from the Lady Eagle. Nevertheless, Sampaton clinched the first set as she dominated the tiebreak, 7-1. In the second set, however, San Jose ran out of gas, allowing Sampaton to take the match, 7(7)-6(1), 6-1.

In the second singles match, Ateneo’s Carmen So dropped her match against Erika Manduriao of UST, 0-6, 3-6, while Lady Eagles Martina Bautista and Alexis McLean were similarly outmatched, 2-6, 2-6, by Growling Tigresses Ebeb Caorte and Precian Rivera in the first doubles contest. This brought the tie in UST’s favor, 1-2, with the Lady Eagles needing to clinch the two remaining matches to win the tie.

In the second doubles match, Lady Eagles Nicole Amistad and Jana Hernandez started strongly with a 6-0 first set win. However, Monica Cortez and Ingrid Gonzales from UST bounced back as both teams were locked at 5-5 in the second set. The budding partnership between Amistad and Hernandez, however, kept the tie alive with a 7-5 for the straight-set win.

This meant that the Lady Eagles’ hopes fell upon Lady Eagle Jana Pages for the final match of the day.

Pages found herself a set ahead of Kendies Malinis of UST, 6-1. However, the second set seemed like a different match as Malinis was able to convincingly counter Pages’ aggressive baseline play. The Lady Tigress’ defensive slices would often lead to an error from Pages, which led to a 2-6 second set loss for the Lady Eagle.

With all to play for in the third set, Malinis maintained her steady play at the baseline, while Pages attempted to break through her defense. After two breaks of serve, however, Malinis was out of reach as Pages sent a return long to end the match, 6-1, 2-6, 3-6.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, the Lady Eagles remained hopeful of their chances as they were only a set away from defeating the Golden Tigresses. “Definitely we’ll bounce back,” Team Captain Hernandez said. “They [UST] are the strongest team, supposedly, so it’s good we were able to reach the deciding [match].”

This loss puts the Lady Eagles at 1-1 in the elimination round standings of the UAAP Tennis tourney. The Lady Netters will resume action against the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Archers on Sunday, February 18, 12:00 NN, at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila.

Men’s Tennis

Team-tie score: Ateneo 3 UST 2

First Singles: Ino Canlas (Ateneo) def. Dave Mosqueda (UST) 6-1, 6-3

Second Singles: Bong Gonzales (Ateneo) def. Jaffary Cariga (UST) 7(6)-6(4), 6-2

Third Singles: Marcen Gonzales (Ateneo) def. Laurence Obdina (UST) 6-0, 6-1

First Doubles: Mark Cabahug and En-En Lopez (UST) def. Luke Flores and Erj Gatdula (Ateneo) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3

Second Doubles: Bernlou Bering and Dominic Lanzado (UST) def. Julian Dayrit and Anton Punzalan (Ateneo) 6-3, 6-4

Women’s Tennis

Team-tie score: Ateneo 2 UST 3

First Singles: Sampaton (Ateneo) def. San Jose (UST) 7(7)-6(1), 1-6

Second Singles: Manduriao (UST) def. So (Ateneo) 0-6, 3-6

Third Singles: Malinis (UST) def. Pages (Ateneo) 6-1, 6-2, 6-3

First Doubles: Caorte and Rivera (UST) def. Bautista and McLean (Ateneo) 2-6, 2-6

Second Doubles: Amistad and Hernandez (Ateneo) def. Cruz and Gonzales (UST) 6-0, 7-5