THE ATENEO Women’s Tennis Team (AWTT) absorbed their third defeat against the defending champions University of Santo Tomas (UST) Female Tennisters following a 1-4 team-tie score. The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 fixture occurred earlier today, February 21, at the Colegio San Agustin Tennis Stadium in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.
This loss puts the Blue Eagles at a 0-3 win-loss record in the elimination round, maintaining their fifth-place standing.
Opening the first singles match, Casey Padilla squared off against Season 87 Rookie of the Year Mica Emana. The Blue Eagle struck early to challenge the Thomasian’s momentum, but struggled to sustain her edge, ultimately conceding the set, 3-6.
In the second set, Padilla recalibrated her offense to put pressure on the former Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP). Despite managing to take three points off Emana, the Atenean lost her footing at crucial moments, eventually yielding the match to the España-based squad, 3-6.
Determined to level the team-tie score, Blue Eagle Angela Buyante challenged Female Tennister Kaye Muztasa in the second singles clash. The Atenean momentarily matched pace with Muztasa, but failed to nab the first set from the Female Tennister, 3-6.
Immediately addressing her lapses, Buyante tamed the Thomasian to force a deciding set, 6-4. In the final encounter, however, the Blue and White athlete fell short of achieving Ateneo’s first team-tie point at the hands of UST’s rookie, 3-6.
In the third singles match, Althea Ong took on UST’s Kaye Emana in a tightly-contested showdown. Ong fell short at the opening set, 4-6, but the returning veteran answered back with poise as she claimed the second set to force a winner-takes-all, 6-4. Despite her clean efforts, Ong later on struggled to predict the former MVP’s tactics in the final frame, faltering due to blunders which forced the Gold and Black to seal the victory, 2-6.
To commence the first doubles fixture of the matchups, Blue and White representatives Althea Martirez and Chelsea Roque asserted dominance over Gold and Black athletes Kryshana Brazal and Justine Maneja. At the onset, the opposing tandems displayed excellence on the hard court to force a deuce in the opening set, 5-5.
Focused on gaining Ateneo’s first team-tie point, however, Martirez and Roque gained consecutive points to win the first set, 7-5. Riding on this newfound momentum, the Blue Eagles shut out Brazal and Maneja in the following set to clinch the Blue Eagles’ lone point of the day, 6-2.
The second doubles tandem of Zaina Omar and Elohgracie Castolo endured a tough outing against Female Tennisters Judy Padilla and Christine Gulagula. The Blue Eagles were left with little room to recover as the España-based dyad shifted the tempo towards their favor early. Efforts were exerted to regroup on the side of Katipunan, but the Blue Eagles were unable to find the right footing, absorbing a double six-love loss, 0-6, 0-6.
Wrapping up the first set of elimination round matches, the AWTT intends to assess their strategies to attain their first UAAP Season 88 victory against former bronze medalists University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons tomorrow, February 22, at 11:00 AM in the same venue.
Team-tie Score:
Ateneo-UST: 1-4
Results:
First Singles: Mica Emana (UST) def. Casey Padilla (Ateneo) – 6-3, 6-3
Second Singles: Kaye Muztasa (UST) def. Angela Buyante (Ateneo) – 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Third Singles: Kaye Emana (UST) def. Althea Ong (Ateneo) – 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
First Doubles: Althea Martirez and Chelsea Roque (Ateneo) def. Kryshana Brazal and Justine Maneja (UST) – 7-5, 6-2
Second Doubles: Judy Padilla and Christine Gulagula (UST) def. Zaina Omar and Elohgracie Castolo (Ateneo) – 6-0, 6-0
Current Standings (W-L):
- UP Fighting Maroons (2-0)
- DLSU Lady Tennisters (2-1)
- NU Lady Bulldogs (1-1)
- UST Female Tennisters (1-1)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (0-3)
