DE LA SALLE continued to show the way in tennis and Ateneo remained very much in the hunt in women’s volleyball in UAAP Season 74 over the weekend.
The Green Archers ended University of Santo Tomas’s (UST) bid to repeat as men’s tennis champion with a 3-2 victory at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center on Sunday.
It was the ninth-straight win for the Taft-based squad, which has to beat National University (NU) in what could be a preview of the finals on February 18, to complete a sweep and earn a twice-to-beat advantage in the finals—also against the Bulldogs.
The Lady Archers, on the other hand, went 5-0 won-lost after edging UST, 3-2, also on Sunday in women’s tennis.
The Green Archers disposed of the Growling Tigers through Alberto Villamor’s deciding singles victory over Bernardine Bering, 6-4, 7-6 (7). The triumph gave the Bulldogs, who are competing in the tennis tournament of the UAAP for the first time, a free ride to the finals with a 6-1 record.
“It’s good to beat UST twice [De La Salle won their first-round tie] this season. We didn’t expect to be undefeated, but our biggest threat is NU,” said De La Salle coach Roland Kraut. UST’s loss was its fifth in nine matches.
Ateneo, on the other hand, assured itself of the No. 2 spot in the Final Four of women’s volleyball following a hard-earned 25-18, 26-24, 23-25, 18-25, 15-12 squeaker over Far Eastern University (FEU) at the San Juan Arena on Sunday.
Fille Cainglet had 23 hits and Alyssa Valdez 18 points for the Lady Eagles, who improved to a second-running 10-2 record and shadow front-runner De La Salle.
Also on Sunday, UST beat NU, 25-19, 25-15, 25-15, to tie Adamson University at third place with an 8-5 record. UST and Adamson face each other on Saturday with the winner clinching the third semifinals berth.
“We need to win one more para at least No. 3 kami sa semifinals. ’Yun na lang ang next best thing since wala na ’yung chance na makuha namin ’yung No. 2 seed,” said UST coach Odjie Mamon.
FEU, which saw Rosemarie Vargas scoring 25 points in the match, dropped to fifth place with a 7-6 record. The Lady Tamaraws have to beat the UE Lady Warriors on Saturday to force a playoff for the last semifinals berth.
Dzi Gervacio has 16 hits and sophomore Ella de Jesus notched a career-high 16 points for Ateneo.
Meanwhile, Mark Gil Alfafara had 15 hits while Jayson Ramos chipped in 14 points as men’s volleyball defending champion UST (9-3) booked the second semifinals seat with a 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 win over UE (0-13)
Myco Antonio and John Kevin de la Peña combined for 30 hits to lift De La Salle (8-5) past NU (7-6), 25-16, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, to stay in the race for one of the two remaining Final Four berths.
In Photo: Hazel Grecia of University of Santo Tomas in action in Sunday’s tennis competition. (Roy Domingo)
