UAAP Tennis: National U advances to final four

By: Renier James Bacus

The NU Lady Bulldogs are up for finals while the men’s team goes through the final four series of the UAAP Season 86 Tennis Tournament after their last match at the Felicisimo Ampon Tennis Center in Manila.

The women’s team swept the round-robin eliminations after dismantling DLSU (3-2) last Sunday, March 17, earning a ticket directly to the finals to vie for their third coveted title in the league.

The 6-4, 7-5 victory against DLSU was sealed by reigning MVP Mai Bornia and partner Luivy Carvajal.

“Balik training kami, strategize again and we’ll focus on staying mentally and physically prepared kasi palagi ko sinasabi sa team na ito yung pinaghirapan namin ng ilang months, so buhos talaga,” said the team captain Mai Bornia.

She also shared that the finals game is important to her, not just for the medal; more so, for representing National University with pride and excellence.

On the other hand, the NU Men’s Tennis team obtained their final four ticket with a 7-5 win-loss record after their UE faceoff the same day.

Coming to the final four series, the NU Bulldogs are eager to face last season’s rival, UST, after giving the latter their second loss in the eliminations.

‘Coming to this rival, mag fo-focus po kami sa kanya-kanyang role namin, magtitiwala sa sarili at sa isa’t isa and lastly, we will be focusing on winning, aiming to achieve the victory that we wanted,” said the NU Bulldogs co-captain EJ Tugade.

The NU Bulldogs are geared up for an exciting match against UST on Saturday, March 23, at the same court venue while the defending champions, NU Lady Bulldogs will wait for the victor of the UST-UP playoffs for the two-game championship series.

📷: Aver Parado, Nikko Pizarro