THE ATENEO Men’s Tennis Team closed out the first round of their University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 88 campaign with a 0-5 loss against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Tiger Tennisters. The match occurred earlier today, February 28, at the Colegio San Agustin Tennis Stadium in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.

This setback marks their sixth consecutive loss of the tournament, keeping the Blue Eagles at the bottom of the standings with a winless slate, 0–6.

Starting off the day for the Blue Eagles, Team Co-Captain JD Velez faced off against Ericjay Tangub of the Tiger Tennisters. Velez struggled to find his footing in the first set, conceding a 1–6 defeat. The veteran Blue Eagle’s woes continued in the second set, absorbing another 1–6 loss, putting Ateneo at a 0–1 team-tie deficit. 

Eager to level the playing field, Ateneo’s Gabby Calilung went head to head against UST’s Sebastian Santos. Calilung found difficulty penetrating Santos’ defense in the first set, succumbing to a love-set defeat, 0–6. The second set proved to be the same story, as the junior struggled, surrendering a 1–6 loss to widen the overall deficit to 0-2.

Hoping to put the Blue and White on the board, Vito Singson locked horns with Evan Bacalso of the Tiger Tennisters in the third singles match. Singson failed to find his groove, losing the first set in a shutout, 0–6. The Blue Eagle’s struggles carried over into the second set, where he fell to the Tiger Tennister, 1-6, clinching the team-tie for UST at 3-0.

In the first doubles match, Ateneo’s JB Cuarto and JC Pabillore took on UST’s Mcleen Gomera and Brent Cortez. The Katipunan-based duo faltered against the Tiger Tennisters in the first set, 1–6. Despite their efforts to achieve the equalizer, Cuarto and Pabillore could not produce an answer for their España-based adversaries, dropping the second set, 3-6, as Ateneo slipped further behind in the team-tie, 0-4.

Aiming to end the day with a silver lining, the Blue and White’s Gab Quintana and Lukas Yupangco took the court against Richard Bautista and Steven Sonsona of the Gold and Black. The Blue Eagle pair failed to notch  a point in the first set, 0–6. In the second set of action, Quintana and Yupangco were outmatched by Bautista and Sonsona, ending the match with a 2–6 defeat, and sealing the 5-0 sweep for the Tiger Tennisters.

With the goal of earning their first win of the season, the Blue Eagles will kick off the second round of the tournament on Sunday, March 1, at 7:30 AM at the same venue, with their opponent yet to be announced as of writing.

Team-tie Score:

Ateneo-UST: 0-5

Results: 

First Singles: Tangub (UST) def. Velez (Ateneo)  – 6-1, 6-1

Second Singles: Santos (UST) def. Calilung  (Ateneo) – 6-0, 6-1

Third Singles: Bacalso (UST) def. Singson (Ateneo) – 6-0, 6-1

First Doubles: Gomera and Cortez (UST) def. Cuarto and Pabillore (Ateneo) – 6-1, 6-3

Second Doubles: Bautista and Sonsona  (UST) def. Quintana and Yupangco (Ateneo) – 6-0, 6-2

Current Standings (W-L):

1. UP Fighting Maroons (5-1)
2. NU Bulldogs (5-1)
3. UE Red Warriors (4-2)
4. UST Tiger Tennisters (4-2)
5. DLSU Green Tennisters (2-4)
6. AdU Soaring Falcons (1-5)
7. ATENEO Blue Eagles (0-6)