Day Three Recap
MARKHAM, Ont. – For the second consecutive year the Western Mustangs have been crowned the OUA Women's Tennis Champions, defeating the York Lions by a 4-3 score on Sunday afternoon at the Mayfair Parkway Racquet Club.
The win is not only the second straight championship victory for the Mustangs, but is also the sixth in program history.
Western's men's team will also be bringing home some hardware from the event as they captured bronze with a 7-0 win over the York Lions.
Helen He was named the OUA Women's Player of the Year for the second consecutive season after going undefeated in singles matches at the No. 1 spot for the Mustangs. Mike Richards earned his second straight OUA Women's Coach of the Year nod to go along with the team's second consecutive banner.
Along with her Player of the Year honours, He was named an OUA All-Star for the third consecutive season, along with teammate Madeline Benn.
Two Mustangs were named OUA All-Stars on the men's side, with Andre Szilvassy and Iain Sneddon earning the honours.
Women's Gold Medal Match – Western 4 – York 3
Western was dominant in the opening doubles matches securing three convincing victories to earn the first point of the finals. From there, the teams exchanged singles wins with Western's No. 1 Helen He controlling her top seeded match, while Lions No. 2 Julia Khalilova earned a tough three set victory in the second matchup. However, with further singles wins by Mustangs No. 5 and 6, Agathe Keromnes and Angela Crowley, Western sealed the deal on the back-to-back championships.
Men's Bronze Medal Match – Western 7 – York 0
The Mustangs made quick work of the York Lions winning in a clean sweep, 7-0, to claim the OUA bronze medal on Sunday evening. After three strong wins in the doubles matches, Mustangs No. 1 Andre Szilvassy led the way winning a back-and-forth contest with Lions No. 1 Dylan Shan. With Szilvassy's impressive win against the strong Shan, the remainder of the Western squad delivered convincing singles wins in the runaway victory.
Day Two Recap
MARKHAM, Ont. – The Western Mustangs engaged in a pair of hard-fought matchups on Saturday afternoon at the Mayfair Racquet Club, with the women's team defeating Toronto 4-3 while the men's team fell to the Varsity Blues by the same score.
The Mustangs women's side will now head to Sunday's final where they'll meet the York Lions in a rematch of last year's finals. Western's men's team will also take on the Lions on Sunday, with the two teams set to battle for the bronze medal.
Women's – Western 4 – Toronto 3
In the most tightly contested match of the OUA championships, the Western Mustangs clinched a berth to the gold medal match by defeating the host Varsity Blues 4-3. Toronto secured the doubles round, picking up two wins including a thrilling tiebreak victory for the pair of Carmen Lai and Alara Demirag. However, the Mustangs rebounded in the singles round with No. 5 Agathe Keromnes claiming the decisive fourth singles victory for Western in front of a captivated crowd.
The Mustangs will now have the opportunity to defend their championship from a season ago as they challenge the No. 1 York Lions tomorrow morning in the gold-medal match. First serve is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
Men's – Toronto 4 – Western 3
A new OUA champion will be crowned following the Varsity Blues 4-3 victory over the defending champion Western Mustangs on Saturday night.
U of T won two of the three doubles contests to claim the first point before action was taken over by grueling singles matches. The semifinal contest was capped off by a deciding three set singles victory by Toronto No. 2 Felix Fan, who came back from down a set to win and send the Blues to the gold-medal round. Teammate Andrew Bourne-Kaponeridis also came back to win a three set singles match, while Blues No. 1 Sasha Obucina utilized a tiebreak first set to win his matchup. Vahagn Tonakanian won both his doubles and singles showdowns for the Mustangs.
The host Varsity Blues will now move on to the gold-medal round where they will face the No. 1 seeded Montreal Carabins who defeated the York Lions soundly in their semifinal round.Gold-medal action is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Mayfair Parkway Club in Markham, Ont. Western will challenge the Lions for bronze at 3:00 p.m.
Day One Recap
MARKHAM, Ont. – The Western Mustangs got their defence of their OUA Championship titles off to a good start on Friday afternoon, with both the men's and women's teams defeating the McMaster Marauders 7-0 on day one of the OUA Tennis Championships at the Mayfair Parkway Racquet Club.
The defending champion Western Mustangs started their attempt at a repeat off right on the women's side, dropping the McMaster Marauders 7-0 in their OUA quarter-final match. After shutting the Marauders out in the doubles portion, Western continued to roll to six straight singles victories. Madeline Benn and Agathe Keromnes did not drop a set for the Mustangs this afternoon in both singles and doubles action. McMaster No. 3 Meghan Mazer played well for the Marauders in the tough matchup.
Western's men's squad continued to roll in defending their provincial championship from a season ago, knocking off the McMaster Marauders 7-0. Marauders pair Mohammad Alaisowi and Jacob Siekierski played well against the Mustangs top doubles squad, but Western would claim the opening three contests. In the singles matchups, Western saw exceptional play from a trio of competitors in Iain Sneddon, Vahagh Tonakanian, and John Drake, en route to the sweep victory.
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday afternoon as both teams will square off with the Toronto Varsity Blues. The women's matches will get started at 2 p.m. followed by the men's contests at 3:30 p.m.
