Coming out of what was then an undefeated streak, the UST Lady Tennisters were all out to deliver yet another win at the cost of their University of the Philippines counterparts. Fate, however, had different plans as the match ended with the underdog standing triumphant over the favorite after a deciding injury ended the tie 3-2 in favor of the UP Lady Maroons last February 8 at the Olivarez Sports Center.
The UST Lady Tennisters started off strong in the singles matches with the triumph of Macy Gonzales over UP’s Bancy Pena in a double 6-1 match. Her victory, however, was short-lived as her comrades in the doubles category failed to continue her momentum after the fall of UST’s April Santos and Lenelyn Milo to UP’s Sarah Lim and Medelene Ramos in a three-set match which ended 6-2, 3-6, 7-6.
The defeat suffered by the Santos-Milo duo also manifested in the match of UST’s second singles competitor, Kendies Malini, as she to failed to continue the momentum set up by Gonzales, falling UP’s Nicole Eugenio after a three-set match, 6-2, 1-6, 4-6.
The loss of Malinis did not usher in good news, but rather the opposite, as her match was soon followed by the matchup between UST’s Ingrid Gonzales and UP’s Alexis Borela. While initially starting out with UST notching a victory in the first set, 6-1, the second set of their match hosted the worst injury of the UAAP Season 77 Tennis Championship after a fierce rally ended with the pullout of Ingrid Gonzales who suffered a probable ACL injury and had to concede the tie to UP.
Facing its first defeat of the season, the UST Lady Tennisters succeeded in slowing down the bleeding after the duo of Genevieve Caorte and Shymae Gitalan defeated UP’s CJ Valdez and Kim Sotelo 6-4, 6-1 to lessen the damage brought by the match.
