In line with the ongoing University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Lawn Tennis tournament, this article will analyze the Ateneo Lady Eagles’ journey to the finals.

AFTER FINISHING with a 2-6 team-tie record in Season 79, the Lady Eagles have since taken flight on the collegiate courts, scheduling a clash with the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) in their first finals appearance since 2011.

On their way to a 3-3 record in the elimination standings, the team bested the University of the Philippines (UP) in both rounds, split two games with De La Salle University (DLSU), and narrowly lost both ties against a gritty UST squad. Throughout the campaign, the Katipunan-based side experimented with various doubles partnerships and singles lineup strategies that won seventeen matches and dropped thirteen.

With a win percentage of 55% and 58% in singles and doubles, respectively, there is little to separate the contributions of the Lady Eagles’ singles and doubles performances this season.  Throughout the campaign, a combination of established veterans and emerging players put the team ahead of the pack for a hard-fought finals berth.

Doubles pair Amistad and Hernandez establish themselves in the lineup

Following the departure of Jessica Agra, sophomore Nicole Amistad has filled in the empty niche alongside Team Captain Jana Hernandez to complete Ateneo’s staple doubles pairing. With Hernandez’s aggressive volleys at the net covered by Amistad’s presence on the baseline, the duo has lost just once in six matches played, contributing five of the Lady Eagles’ seven doubles wins.

Frequently fielded in the second doubles match, the tandem has grown into a tried and tested formula for victory, maturing into a force to be reckoned with on the court. While Hernandez acknowledges the pressure that comes with expectations to deliver, she also prides herself on this responsibility as a leader, which further fuels her resolve and drive on the court.

“It boosts my confidence because coach and my teammates trust us,” she says.

Photo by Zach G. Garcia

While Amistad and Hernandez have been constants in the lineup, a mix of pairings have deployed Martina Bautista, Alexis McLean, Annika Mallari, Jana Pages, and Carmen So in different combinations on the doubles court at various points in the season, evidencing a deep bench and reliable rotation.

Doubles specialists McLean and Mallari recorded individual doubles records of 0-2 and 2-2, respectively, which adds capable hands for greater depth in the Lady Eagles’ doubles arsenal. Meanwhile, versatile players like Bautista, who played two singles matches and three doubles matches so far, are often deployed depending on Coach Jennifer Saret’s plans to exploit an opponent’s weakness or to beef up a part of the team.

While a second regular partnership has yet to be found, the match remains critical. It can either spell victory, as Mallari and Bautista grabbed the second out of three wins in round one’s win over DLSU, or defeat, as Bautista and So narrowly fell in the third set to award UST the tie-winning match last Sunday.

The Lady Eagles’ key singles players

Warfare on the front of the individual duels has also played a key factor for the Lady Eagles, who have managed to win ten out of eighteen singles matches. In both 4-1 team-tie victories against the University of the Philippines (UP), all singles players walked away with wins. On the other hand, the team’s three defeats saw only three victories in singles matches for the Blue and White.

Of the several players most frequently sent into the fray on the singles courts, Khrizelle Sampaton leads the pack with five wins and a lone loss, with her consistency and power behind the baseline making the graduating veteran one of most feared players in the league. Sampaton’s loss against DLSU’s Rachelle De Guzman shows just how important she is to the team. After forcing a third set, Sampaton, bothered by the heat, could not prevent the loss that ultimately led to DLSU’s first win of the season.

Photo by Zach G. Garcia

Meanwhile, the heavy-hitting Pages has been battling injury, which has hindered her involvement this season. Worn down by a patellar tendinitis injury, Pages also suffered a sprain during training, which sidelined her during Sunday’s defeat, as she ended the elimination round with a 1-2 singles record and a 1-1 doubles record.

Rookie Carmen So has similarly made her mark on the singles court, garnering two wins out of five singles matches. With an appearance in each team tie, her resilience and patience at the baseline has made her a constant in the Lady Eagles’ lineup.

While the lineup has not been set, the Katipunan-based side will inevitably rely on their singles specialists’ ambitious groundstrokes and aggressive winners heading into the finals.

The importance of the lineup strategy

Despite a daunting margin of three team-tie victories separating the Lady Eagles and the Golden Tigresses, it should be noted that the losses could have gone either way. In each of Ateneo’s defeats, they managed two wins per contest, only for the critical third win to elude them in the third set in all three deciding matches.

Ultimately, the chances of the Lady Eagles will boil down to the lineup Coach Saret deploys and how it fares against the strategy of UST counterpart Dennis Sta. Cruz’s.

With so many players vying for a spot in the finals, Coach Jennifer Saret has a good deal of talent at her disposal. Aside from the steady veterans that continued their contributions this season, rookies Bautista and So look poised to fortify the team’s lineup, which leaves Saret with a variety of options to keep up with the Golden Tigresses’ dominant singles players and stellar doubles pairings.

The Lady Eagles will be facing UST in a do-or-die affair in the Season 80 UAAP Women’s Lawn Tennis finals at 8:00 AM on Saturday, March 17 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila.