THE UST Male Tennisters fell short of a back-to-back title romp after wilting before a powerhouse De La Salle University crew, 2-0, in the finals of the 2008 Milo Interschool Tennis Tournament last August 23 at the Phil-am Homes Tennis Club in Quezon City.
Up against a heavy-hitting Korean and one of the Philippines’ top local netters, the Male Tennisters succumbed to pressure at every turn, eventually relinquishing the title they won via an all-UST finale last year.
Season 70 Rookie of the Year Raymond Villarete hastened UST’s championship meltdown, yielding the first singles battle to Korean Soo-han Chung in the tie-breaker, 8-7 (1).
Unable to shake-off a choppy forehand early in the match, Villarete found himself staring at a 1-4 deficit, but later knotted the count at five-apiece, thanks to a couple of nifty placements which repeatedly caught Chung off-balanced at mid-court.
Villarete stayed with Chung, posting the third deadlock of the match at 7-7 to force a crucial tie-break. But exhaustion got the better of Villarete, who settled for a wild return to give La Salle a 1-0 advantage.
UST’s hopes of forging a 1-1 affair faded into thin air as the pair of Wilbur Orillano and Alexander Diego surrendered a 4-8 decision to the more seasoned tandem of Erwin De Guzman and national team standout Patrick John Tierro in the doubles event.
Down by 0-2, Orillano and Diego pressed on the attack to draw level at 3-all. The España-based pair then unleashed powerful smashes to take the lead at 4-3. But that was all UST could muster heading into the endgame as La Salle engineered a 5-0 counter-salvo, capped by a service ace and an array of drop shots to ice the win and snatch the title from the defending champions.
Back in the semifinals, the Male Tennisters outplayed College of Saint Benilde 2-1, last August 11 at the Dapitan Sports Complex.
Villarete outdueled Daniel Bautista in the first singles, 8-6, before Diego and Season 70 Most Valuable Player Maclean Barraquias lost to Raymond Padigos ans Mark Ramos in the doubles.
Barraquias made up for his doubles setback by trouncing Mark Ramos in the second singles, 8-4, to catapult UST in the finals.
Not as lucky
The Lady Tennisters were not as lucky though, bombing out of the championship race after absorbing a 2-0 shutout from the College of St. Benilde (CSB) in the semifinals last August 11 at the Dapitan Sports Complex.
CSB was the same squad that denied the Lady Tennisters of the title last year. Bambi Zoleta controlled the tempo of the first singles match, whacking unplayable returns and smashes to demolis Lady Tennister Tina Santos, 2-8.
Zoleta then brought her singles momentum in doubles play, teaming up with sister Bien to prevail, 3-8, over the error-prone UST tandem of Season 70 MVP Nikki Manalo and Macey Solon. J.S. Perey and Ana Mae G. Roa
