THE ATENEO Men’s Lawn Tennis Team (AMLTT) dropped their match against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tigers Tennis Team, 2-3. The two aggressive squads faced each other earlier today in Day 5 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 85 Tennis Tournament at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in the City of Manila.
Nio Tria began today’s competition with a tightly-contested Singles matchup against UST’s Nilo Ledama. The highly-touted Ateneo rookie strongly opened the bout by winning the first set, 6-1. However, Ledama did not allow the dictated pace of Tria from the first set to continue, as the Tiger went on to snatch the second set, 6-3. The third set then saw the best of both players, but the Tiger eventually managed to win the tiebreak, 6-7 (4).The victory by Ledama thus gave UST the first team-tie point, 1-0.
Meanwhile, Stef Gurria and Chester Tiongson were unable to win the first Doubles matchup against UST’s John Sonsona and Vince Serino. The Ateneo duo could not score a point in the first set, 0-6. Despite the adjustments made by their opponents, the Growling Tigers shut off any possible Ateneo comeback by quickly taking the second set, 6-2. This loss put Ateneo down two team-tie points, 0-2.
Jed Olivarez put the Blue and White back on track after he eased through the second Singles matchup against Eric Jay Tangub. The Blue Eagle quickly won the first set, not allowing UST to score any more points, 6-0. The second set saw similar results as Olivarez dominated, 6-1, giving Ateneo their first team-tie point of the day.
Meanwhile, Mik Balce and JJ Llavore were unable to notch the second Doubles match against the Tigers’ Symon Jaculan and Mark Alfred Directo. UST made quick work against the Katipunan-based squad as they swiftly won both sets, 3-6, 3-6. The sweep by Jaculan and Directo secured the overall win for the Tigers as they scored the third team-tie point.
Claiming their second win of the match, Co-Captain Gab Tiamson took the stage against UST’s Sebastian Santos. Tiamson drew the upper hand in a close first set against Santos, 7-5. Maximizing his momentum, the Blue Eagle then dominated the second set against the Tiger, 6-2. The win added another point to Ateneo’s team-tie point, finishing the match with two points.
With the loss, the Blue Eagles now hold a 4-1 record. The AMLTT look to regroup as they face their Katipunan rivals, the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, on Saturday, March 25, at 11:00 AM at the same venue.
Men’s Team Tie Score: Ateneo 2 – UST 3
First Men’s Singles: Tria fell to Ledama, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (4)
First Men’s Doubles: Gurria & Tiongson fell to Sonsona & Serino, 0-6, 2-6
Second Men’s Singles: Olivarez def. Tangub, 6-1, 6-0
Second Men’s Doubles: Balce & Llavore fell to Jaculan & Directo, 3-6, 3-6
Third Men’s Singles: Tiamson def. Santos, 7-5, 6-2
