THEY WERE not used to being the underdogs.
With the odds stacked against them, the task of defeating the UAAP’s top team in three straight games was too much for the defending back-to-back champions UST Tiger Tennisters.
UST could not deliver a repeat performance of its conquest of De La Salle University as the Tigers lost, 2-1, in the championship before a pre-dominant La Salle crowd last Feb.1 at the Rizal Racket Club in Pasig.
Last Jan. 25, UST denied DLSU a sweep of the tournament to set the stage for the championship.
Allan Afafara lost to Yanick Guba, 6-1, 6-1, in the first singles but UST made its climb back into the game as Maclean Barraquias and last year’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Art Thomas Calingasan defeated Nico Faller and Edu Diez in the doubles play, 6-1, 6-4.
Former Rookie of the Year (ROY) Pius Ocampo fought through cramps in the second set to outlast Irwin de Guzman, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2, in the deciding singles.
However, the championship showdown was a different story.
In the first singles, this season’s MVP Guba repeated over Alfafara, 6-2, 6-2, as De La Salle put the pressure on UST.
In the next match, UST was ambushed as the tandem of Barraquias and Calingasan tasted their first ever defeat as a doubles team.
DLSU went for the kill in that match, shaking up its regular doubles team. Instead of Diez, it was the Green Tennisters’ number two singles De Guzman, who teamed up with Faller in the title-clinching set.
The gamble paid off for the Taft-based tennisters with the title they last held during the 1996 season.
ROY awardee De Guzman and Faller beat Barraquias and Calingasan in a thrilling three-hour match, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5).
In the third set, with UST leading at 4-1, Calingasan experienced cramps in his right hand hastening their downfall as De Guzman and Faller came back to win the crucial set. DLSU conceded the match between Diez and Ocampo as the game was already decided.
“I give credit to De La Salle for their victory. A worthy champion, from the alumni to the coaches, to the reserve players, you could see in their eyes that they wanted this championship and they really worked hard for it, up to the smallest detail,” UST Tennisters’ coach Karl Santamaria said as the animated La Salle crowd doubled the number of UST supporters who were in attendance.
But the former MVP-turned coach also praised his wards for not handing the crown on a silver platter to their arch-rivals, who were bridesmaids for two years.
“We were the overwhelming underdogs, but still, we ended up tied with the same record as DLSU, Iosing by a point in the quotient for the twice-to-beat advantage, and stretching them in the championship game. Our players gave it their 110% more than I could ask for. The breaks just didn’t fall our way this time. They gave it all their best. Nothing to be ashamed of. We will be back next year,” Santamaria said after the loss.
Second straight bridesmaid finish
It was a double whammy for the UST Tennis Team as the Lady Tennisters failed to prevent a DLSU sweep losing in the penultimate day of the eliminations, 2-1, last Jan. 25 at the Rizal Racket Club.
UST rookie sensation Ara Micayabas was nowhere near her form that won three Palarong Pambansa gold medals in her 6-3, 6-3 upset to fellow rookie Michelle Panis. It was Micayabas’ first loss in the UAAP and also to Panis, who edged her out in the ROY derby.
Kathryn Flores and Sherry Rose Ong gave DLSU their second straight crown as they beat Katrina Lopez and Ofelia Arribe in the doubles play, 6-3, 6-4. The last singles was conceded by the Taft-based tennisters with the outcome already settled. DLSU’s ace singles Berry Sepulveda was named the MVP.
The Lady Tennisters finished with a 4-2 card in the tournament. Alder T. Almo
