MANILA, Philippines – Ateneo de Manila University put an end to National University's (NU) four-year reign on top of the men's division in UAAP tennis with a 3-2 victory on Sunday.
The Blue Eagles' victory gave University of Santo Tomas (UST) a free ride to the finals of the UAAP Season 79 lawn tennis tournament.
NU badly needed a win to have a chance of forcing a playoff against UST for the No. 2 spot, but Ateneo played spoiler to their plans and ended its season on a high note in the process.
The Bulldogs, which lost several key players from their previous title runs, ended with a 4-5 win-loss record.
UST made it to the best-of-three championship round despite losing its final tie to the top-seeded University of the East, 2-3.
The AJ Lim-led Red Warriors (9-1) and the Growling Tigers (6-3) will open their Finals showdown on Saturday, 8 a.m., at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Meanwhile, the NU Lady Bulldogs stayed perfect, beating University of the Philippines, 4-1. In the process, they earned a twice-to-beat advantage against UST in the women's Finals.
The Lady Bulldogs (8-0) only need to beat the Tigresses (6-2) on Sunday at the same venue to keep their crown.
The NU lady tennisters have won 23 consecutive matches since February 2015, which ties the Ateneo's men's volleyball team 23-match run for the second-longest active winning streak in the UAAP.
The NU women's basketball team owns the longest winning streak, having won 48 games in a row.
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Source : http://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/03/13/17/uaap-tennis-ateneo-ends-nus-four-year-reign