THE ATENEO Women’s Lawn Tennis Team (AWLTT) bagged an elusive first victory in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 86 Lawn Tennis Tournament against the De La Salle University (DLSU) Lady Tennisters. The match was held yesterday at the Felicisimo Ampon Tennis Center-Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in the City of Manila.
Picking up where they left off from an intense duel in the first round, the Blue Eagles and Lady Tennisters engaged in another back-and-forth matchup in their second-round meet. This time, it was the Blue Eagles who walked away with a 3-2 victory over their Taft rivals.
Ateneo got off to a rough start in the first singles match as Chelsea Roque struggled to find her attacks versus DLSU’s Annika Diwa. The Lady Tennister built an insurmountable amount of momentum in a set sweep of Roque, 6-0. Despite her valiant efforts in set two, the Blue Eagle’s difficulty in scoring points continued, leading to a 2-6 loss.
Avenging her fellow AWLTT skipper, Melanie Faye Dizon returned the favor by dominating DLSU’s Jam Madis in the succeeding singles match. Using her hustle and aggressiveness, Dizon did not allow the Lady Tennister to find her footing in the game. With Madis failing to receive most of her attacks, Dizon completed a commanding sweep against her adversary, 6-0 and 6-1.
In doubles action, Noelle Urgello and Nina Sandjeas teamed up for the Blue and White to take on DLSU’s Arianne Nillasca and Admor Idjao. Once again, the Lady Tennisters made the Katipunan-based squad work for their points to no avail. The chemistry and firepower of DLSU’s dynamic duo proved too much for Urgello and Sandejas to handle as they dropped two consecutive sets, both at 0-6.
Following La Salle’s flawless sweep, another doubles contest would occur between Ateneo’s Mariam Garsin and Althea Martirez against DLSU’s Jed Aquino and Bea Gomez. The first set saw the Ateneo tandem take the upper hand at 6-3 after controlling the pace of the game. However, Aquino and Gomez fired back with their own scoring attacks that gave them a 6-4 win in set two. Both squads would exchange counters in a rally-filled third set that saw a 5-5 deadlock. In the extended period, the Blue Eagles dug deeper into their repertoire, finding a closing strategy to edge their Taft counterparts, 7-6.
With the Team-Tie score tied at 2-2, AWLTT team captain Althea Ong faced the pressure of bringing home Ateneo’s first victory of the season. Lady Tennister Maikee Vicencio tested the mettle of the Blue Eagle early in the match. In a heated exchange, Ong powered through to get the job done in set one for the Blue and White, 7-5.
Coming off an action-packed set, the Atenean skipper showed signs of fatigue which the Lasallian capitalized on. Vicencio produced a commanding 6-1 run in set two to force the game into a deciding third set.
Not wanting to suffer another heartbreaking loss, Ong remained calm and regrouped with the game on the line. Shifting the momentum back on her side, the Ateneo veteran made use of her experience to deliver a captivating performance in set three, 6-2.
With the victory, the Ateneo Women’s Lawn Tennis Team improved their record to 1-5. Although already out of championship contention, the Blue Eagles will look to rack up more wins when they face the National University Lady Bulldogs today at 1:00 PM in the same venue.
