THE UST Female Tennisters-A escaped past a pesky De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde squad , 2-1, to emerge as the intercollegiate women’s champion in the second Olivarez-Philta Open Tennis Championships at the Olivarez Tennis Courts in Parañaque City last Aug. 26.
The UST duo of rookie Honey Giles and Chrizanth Helar dropped their second game in the doubles match against the Blazers due to erratic attacks, 7-10. But sophomore Zaza Paulino played big for UST in the deciding match by trouncing Joanna Tan, 10-6, en route to the title.
With Tan’s inconsistent attacks and erratic services, Paulino took the opportunity to fire slice shots and take an early 5-0 lead. Paulino became aggressive and unloaded a barrage of commanding services that left Tan staring at an 8-1 UST edge.
But Benilde ignited a 5-1 rally on Paulino’s continuous errors that chopped down the lead to three sets, 9-6.
Paulino needed a little pep talk to finally come to her senses and pull away for good with a variety of attacks, 10-6.
Season 74 Most Valuable Player Macy Gonzales made quick work of Jella Jade Capadocia, 10-4, to give UST an early 1-0 lead.
UST’s two teams, UST-A and UST-B, took on each other in the semi-final round in a match won by the former.
UST-A earlier defeated Saint Benilde, 2-1, and thrashed National University-B, 3-0, to top Group B with a 2-0 win-loss card.
“We really had a good performance especially the rookies. It was a good thing that both teams fought each other [in the semi-finals] because they really proved something,” coach Dennis Sta. Cruz said.
The men’s team suffered an early exit in the intercollegiate men’s semi-finals against eventual tournament runner-up University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, 1-2.
