Toronto, ON – For the first time since 2017, The Western Mustangs weren't able to secure an OUA Championship banner at the Men's & Women's Tennis Championship.
The competition across the OUA continues to be strong and both of the Western teams battled hard with the men's team falling just short to the Toronto Varsity Blues 4-3 in the finals while the Women's team lost 6-1 to McMaster in the bronze medal match.
After winning both the men's and women's championships last season Western came into the event as the #1 seed and a bye through the first day.
On the women's side, Western took on Waterloo in the semi-finals on Saturday afternoon. The Warriors took two of the three doubles matches, Western's Carly Citron & Enna Krnjic won their match 8-1. In singles matches each side took three of the six matches with Citron, Lauryn Son & Mihika Saraswathi all winning their matches but it wasn't enough to overcome the doubles point lost and Western dropped the semi final 4-3.
In the Men's semi-final the Mustangs took the doubles point, winning two of three matches. In the singles, Western won four of six games, including a decisive 6-1, 6-0 victory for Aidan Zia in the three-slot while Ashton Cross, Aidan Sarnese and Ian Brander also won their matches to secure the 5-2 win for Western to advance them to the gold medal match.
In the finals, the Mustangs men only picked up one of the three doubles matches with Lawson Cross & Aidan Zia picking up the 8-6 win. Ashton Cross dominated his match 6-0,6-1 to pick up a singles point while Aidan Zia also won decisively 6-2, 6-1 but Toronto won the 4,5 and 6 matches which secured them the four points needed to win. Western's Ashton Cross was named OUA Player of the Year and an OUA All-Star while Zia was also named an all-star.
In the women's bronze medal match against the McMaster Marauders, Lauryn Son & Mihika Saraswathi won their doubles match 8-3 but Western lost the other two doubles matches to lose the important doubles point. In singles competitions, the Marauders won five of the six matches with Carly Citron being the only Mustangs to win her game 6-1, 6-3 and McMaster would take the bronze medals with a 6-1 final score. Citron was named an OUA All-Star for her play at the event.
The Toronto Varsity Blues won the the OUA Championship banner on both the Men's & Women's sides.
Award Winners (Men)
Player of the Year: Ashton Cross, Western
Rookie of the Year: Matthew Li, Waterloo
Coach of the Year: Zhenya Kondratovsky, Ottawa
All-Stars
Rassam Yazdi, Toronto
Michael Chu, Toronto
Ashton Cross, Western
Aidan Zia, Western
Alex Bodor, York
Pavle Milic, Waterloo
Award Winners (Women)
Player of the Year: Anastasiya Dyadchenko, Toronto
Rookie of the Year: Anastasiya Dyadchenko, Toronto
Coach of the Year: Kirsten Magi, McMaster
All-Stars
Anastasiya Dyadchenko, Toronto
Maria Popova, Toronto
Adema Tursunkhanova, Waterloo
Jana Llorin, Waterloo
Eva Feddema, McMaster
Carley Citron, Western
