THE ATENEO Blue Eagles absorbed a 1-4 loss to the DLSU Lady Tennisters in their second contest of the UAAP Season 88 Women’s Tennis tournament. This bout occurred earlier today, February 15, at the Colegio San Agustin Tennis Stadium in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan. The match marked Ateneo’s second straight loss, coming just a day after their previous setback to open the elimination round.
To begin the matches, Althea Ong faced Niña Angeline Alcala in the opening battle, dropping a tightly contested first set, 5-7, before Alcala pulled away to take the second 1-6, securing the first team-tie victory for La Salle.
Ateneo answered in the second singles behind Angela Buyante, who recovered from an early deficit to secure a three-set victory over Beatrice Gomez. After dropping the first set, 1–6, Buyante recalibrated her approach and engaged in longer rallies to disrupt her opponent’s pace. The adjustment paid off as Buyante claimed the next two sets, 7–5 and 6–2, securing Ateneo’s lone team-tie point of the afternoon.
With the team tie hanging in the balance, Blue Eagle Althea Rose Martirez faced Lady Tennister Mikaela Vicencio in the final singles match. Despite flashes of steady baseline exchanges, Martirez struggled to contain her opponent’s consistency, falling 1–6, 2–6 to hand DLSU a 2–1 overall cushion heading into doubles play.
Needing a sweep to stay alive, Ateneo’s Arianna Omar and Eloh Castolo took the court in first doubles against DLSU’s France Idjao and Chelsea Bernaldez. The La Salle pair controlled the tempo from the outset, closing the match swiftly, 0–6, 0–6, to put the tie out of reach.
In the dead rubber match, Chelsea Roque and Casey Padilla looked to add another team-tie point for Ateneo against Clare Guardo and Annika Diwa. The Blue Eagle duo showed improved coordination in the second set but ultimately bowed out, 1–6, 2–6, sealing the 1–4 overall result.
The Blue Eagles will aim to regroup when they return to the same venue on Saturday, February 21 at 11:00 AM to face the UST Lady Tennisters in their next elimination round assignment.
Team-tie Score:
Ateneo-DLSU: 1-4
Results:
First Singles: Alcala (DLSU) def. Ong (Ateneo), 7–5, 6–1
Second Singles: Buyante (Ateneo) def. Gomez (DLSU), 1–6, 7–5, 6–2
Third Singles: Vicencio (DLSU) def. Martirez (Ateneo), 6–1, 6–2
First Doubles: Idjao and Bernaldez (DLSU) def. Omar and Castolo (Ateneo), 6–0, 6–0
Second Doubles: Guardo and Diwa (DLSU) def. Roque and Padilla (Ateneo), 6–1, 6–2
Current Standings:
- UP Fighting Maroons (2-0)
- NU Lady Bulldogs (1-0)
- DLSU Lady Tennisters (1-1)
- UST Female Tennisters (0-1)
- ATENEO Blue Eagles (0-2)
