THE ATENEO Fencing Team capped off Day 4 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80 Fencing tournament with the Lady Eagles winning bronze in the Women’s Epee Team and Sabre Team events while the Blue Eagles also garnered bronze in the Men’s Foil Team event on Sunday, February 11, at the PhilSports Complex Fencing Hall in Pasig City.
The Blue Eagles finished tied for fifth with the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons in the overall standings with two bronze medals apiece while the Lady Eagles equalled the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Golden Tigresses for fourth as both garnered four bronze medals.
Lady Eagles
Lady Eagles Patricia Sarmiento, Gabby Jimenez, Monic Pangilinan, and Bella Miguel were the first of the day to step onto the piste for the Women’s Epee Team event. The quartet cruised through the Tableau of 8 wherein they each dueled against counterparts from UP. Pangilinan’s 6-0 stint against UP’s Christianne Pascual was the turning point of the match, putting Ateneo ahead by eight points after the fourth bout. The Lady Eagles managed to keep their lead to seal the win, securing them a slot in the semi-finals where they were to face archrivals, the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Archers.
The semi-finals round saw a close match between the two teams with Ateneo struggling through numerous lead changes between periods. However, DLSU’s Divine Romero eventually took charge and caused the Lady Eagles to suffer a tough loss, with a final score of 39-40.
Ateneo Team Captain Justine Joseph dominated the Women’s Sabre Team semi-finals against the Lady Maroons, scoring a total of 26 points for the Blue and White. The battle of Katipunan was off to a slow start until the fifth bout where Joseph challenged UP’s Sofia Pineda. The Lady Eagle garnered a staggering 11 points for the sixth period to hand her team their first lead of the match at 30-26. However, the Blue and White found themselves behind by six points at the beginning of the last bout (34-40). Despite a valiant effort to rally back, the deficit which was too much for the Lady Eagles as they fell to their opponents by a solitary point, 44-45.
“Okay lang naman, pero siyempre sana mas mataas (It was okay, but of course, we wanted to go higher),” shared Ateneo Coach Ed Davila. “Tapos ‘yung team na tumalo sa atin, ‘yung gold, mas nahirapan pa sila sa atin compared doon sa UE team na may National Team player (The team that beat us, won gold, and they had a harder time against us compared to the UE team that had a National Team player).”
Joseph also reflected on her veteran role in the team after her skillful performance. “Because the team consists of mostly rookies, coach gave me the job to make habol (catch up), so I came into the competition focused,” said Joseph. “Coach trusted me and everyone believed in me so that made me believe in myself.”
Blue Eagles
Meanwhile, the Blue Eagle quartet consisting of Kyle Lim, Joseph Dizon, Jacob Villanueva, and Gabby Ocampo battled it out against the UST Growling Tigers in the semi-finals round of the Men’s Foil Team competition. Villanueva took charge, scoring a total of 22 points for his team. Lim gained momentum in the last bout slimming a six point deficit (34-40) down to three. However, the Blue and White were unable to keep up with UST’s Gian Carlo Aribe, ultimately falling (42-45) and earning the bronze medal.
“It was the last day, and I’ve been training all year for this, so I really gave it my all,” Villanueva shared about his notable performance.
Both teams expressed their pride for the school despite the results and only looked to come back stronger in next season’s campaign.
“Tinututukan ko na ‘yung mga rookies for next year (I’m focusing on the rookies for next year),” said Davila. “We still got lots of work to do.”
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