The University of the East Red Warriors ended their first round campaign on the tennis lawn on a high note, taking four of five matches against the still winless De La Salle Green Archers, Saturday morning at the Rizal Sports Complex.
In the first singles match of the afternoon, UE’s Jeleardo Amazona met with La Salle youngster Argil Canizares in a heated three-set encounter. La Salle’s Canizares took home the first set, 6-1, taking advantage of the errors and bad serves of his opponent to nail six quick points. The more aggressive Amazona took the first three points of the second set, but his opponent on the other side of the lawn was able to readjust, forcing a 5-all tie. The Archer then took advantage of the visibly-worn Canizares’ pacing problems late in the set to hold out for the 7-6 win. Momentum stayed with Canizares in the third set, resorting in more well-timed strokes and composed pacing to win the set 6-4.
The second singles matchup between Joshua Kinaadman of UE, last year’s Rookie of the Year, and Betto Orendain of La Salle also proved to be another tight encounter. Kinaadman took the first set, 1-6, but the La Sallian Orendain was able to adjust in the second en route to a 6-4 win. The third set saw UE’s Kinaadman take control of the flow at the expense of a visibly-fatigued Orendain to nail the win, 6-3.
The first doubles match between La Salle’s Jonah Cano and Kyle Parpan, and Paulo Baran and Jeric de los Santos, saw the Archers bare their fangs. The steady-paced but hard-hitting duo from La Salle dropped three points and lagged 1-3 early in the first set, but showed enough grit to go on the offensive and force a 5-5 deadlock. They were able to further rattle their UE counterparts, who were forced into awkward spacing and badly-timed hits to eventually close out the set on top, 7-6. Still reeling from the first set’s heated duel, the Warriors were unable to regain their composure and dropped the second set, 1-6, to the men in Green and White.
The second doubles encounter, however, was all Red and White. The veteran duo of Rolly Saga and Rogelio Esatana Jr. forced Archers Hans Assistio and Rey Mayo to taking awkward strokes in the first set, en route to a 6-3 win in set 1. The UE brigade employed the same methods to complete another win in the second set, 6-1.
The final meeting between the netters from Taft and the netters from Recto for the day was another tight contest. UE’s Rodolfo Barquin triumphed over La Salle’s Qoqo Allian in the first set, 6-3, but the Archer regrouped and took advantage of his opponent’s staggered pace in the second set for a 6-3 victory of his own. The third set belonged to the man in Red, however, who took six straight points at the expense of his worn opponent to secure the 6-1 victory for the set and the match.
UE are at 2-3 at the standings as the first round draws to a close, while the La Sallian netters, who have yet to taste victory, settle for a 0-5 slate.
