THE UST Male Tennisters and Female Tennisters fell short in achieving a championship sweep, losing Game 2 to their respective rivals on Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Court.
Ateneo forced a do-or-die match against UST in the men’s lawn tennis division after a neck-and-neck battle, 2-3.
Last season’s Rookie-MVP Nilo Ledama, fresh off his second consecutive MVP award, found himself in a tight battle against Ateneo’s Noy Seno in the first singles match.
Blue Eagles Nio Tria and Axl Gonzaga secured a win in the first doubles match against Thomasian duo Richard Bautista and Nash Agustines, 6-2, 6-1, to grab an early lead, 1-0.
However, Ericjay Tangub took one back for UST with a 6-3, 6-1 sweep of Ateneo’s Austine Delos Santos in the second singles match, leveling the match to 1-all.
Ateneo took an unexpected turn after Seno outsmarted UST’s Ledama with a scoreline of 2-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 at the end of the first singles match to give the Blue Eagles a 2-1 advantage.
The tennisters displayed a gallant stand after Steven Sonsona and Symon Jaculan tied the game against Ateneo’s JJ Llavore and Stef Guria in the second doubles match with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory.
JD Velez clinched the win for Ateneo in the third singles match against Sebastian Santos to force a Game 3, 6-4, 6-4.
Reflecting on today’s loss, Ledama recognized that not every game is a good game.
“We (will) take a rest, eat healthy foods to be prepared for tomorrow’s last game,” Ledama told The Flame.
The women’s tennis team also suffered a crashing defeat to defending champions NU Lady Bulldogs, 1-3.
Kaye Emana set the tone early for UST after making quick work of NU’s Angela Cabaral in the first singles match, 6-0, 6-1.
UST rookie tandem of Minette Bentillo and Justine Maneja stumbled against NU’s Danna Abad and Rovie Baulete in the second doubles match, 3-6, 3-6.
UST’s Alexei Santos suffered her first defeat in the last two seasons after getting mauled by Elsie Abarquez in the second singles match, 3-6, 4-6.
NU’s duo Alyssa Bornia and Allia Ragunton sealed the win after dominating Debbie Gom-os and Miles Vitaliano in the first doubles match, 6-4, 6-1.
“I felt that we were overconfident since we won the first time, so we were complacent that we could handle this game,” Emana told The Flame.
Now tied with their respective rivals at 1-all, the men’s team aims to defend its crown from Ateneo and claim its 15th title, while the women’s team is bent on ending NU’s reign to capture its first title since Season 81.
The male and female tennisters will face their respective rivals in a winner-take-all game on April 7 at the same venue. F
