IT WAS a case of déjà vu between the Ateneo Lady Eagles and the National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs in their second round meeting in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 81 Women’s Lawn Tennis tournament. The Lady Eagles notched a down-to-the-wire 3-2 team-tie victory on Sunday, March 10, at the Colegio San Agustin-Bulacan Tennis Stadium in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.
Rookie phenom Shaira Rivera returned to action in her typical winning form as she started off the day against NU’s Zan Dumlao in the first singles matchup. She was in cruise control from the get-go, and took the match with a double-bagel win, 6-0, 6-0, to give Ateneo an early advantage in the team-tie, 1-0.
Despite Carmen So’s efforts against the seasoned Lady Bulldog, Clarice Patrimonio, she was unable to follow suit as she fell to her NU opponent in straight sets, 1-6, 1-6, in the second singles matchup of the day. With this win, NU found themselves on the board to even the team-tie score at a win apiece.
The tandem of Janelle Llavore and Nicole Amistad were fielded for the first doubles match, where they were set to face Aliah Ragunton and Alysa Bornia. The ladies from Loyola Heights, who bested their Lady Bulldog counterparts when they met in the first round, could not repeat their success against the changed lineup of NU. They dropped the match, 3-6, 3-6, to swing the momentum to the Sampaloc-based side.
Down 1-2 in the team-tie score, the pressure was on rookie Bettina Bautista and the duo of Jana Hernandez and Jana Pages to lead the comeback for Ateneo.
Bautista took to the court for the third singles match against Sam Antalan. Even though she knew the gravity of her match, she still played a confident and composed game. She pulled out the 6-3, 6-2 win to bring the team-tie score to 2-2.
With the team-tie on the line, Hernandez and Pages valiantly took on the duo of Szash Canja and Annie Tumanda. After dropping the first set of the match, 3-6, the Ateneo’s team captain duo finally found their rhythm and deadlocked the match with a commanding 6-2 outing in the second set. The Lady Eagles never looked back and carried on with their momentum as they hacked out a masterful 6-0 domination in the third set, which handed them the match and gave the Katipunan-based side the final win in the team-tie, 3-2.
The Lady Eagles (3-2) will look to avenge their loss against the De La Salle Lady Tennisters and continue their winning streak next Sunday, March 17 at 11:oo am at the same venue.
Team-tie score: Ateneo 3 NU 2
Set scores:
First singles: Rivera (Ateneo) def. Dumlao, 6-0, 6-0
Second singles: Patrimonio def. So (Ateneo), 6-1, 6-1
Third singles: Bautista (Ateneo) def. Antalan, 6-3, 6-2
First doubles: Ragunton and Bornia def. Llavore and Amistad (Ateneo), 6-3, 6-3
Second doubles: Hernandez and Pages (Ateneo) def. Canja and Tumanda, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0
