Toronto, ON – For the 24^th time in program history, the Mustangs Men's Tennis team are OUA Champions after securing a 4-3 win over the rival Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday.

"We are excited to come out on top against Toronto, who we have battled with in the OUA finals for several years now," said Head Coach Cameron Cross "This is the strongest team that I have coached since joining the program approximately 15 years ago,"

Western picked up the doubles point as Ashton Cross & Edward Stan won their match 8-7 and Lawson Cross & Aidan Zia won their match 8-1. In the singles matches Western got wins from Liam Drover-Mattinen (6-3, 6-3), Aidan Zia (6-1, 6-1), Ray Xie (6-3, 7-5) & Edward Stan (6-2, 7-5) to take the win.

Drover-Mattinen was named OUA Player of the Year and OUA Rookie of the Year. Xie & Drover-Mattinen received OUA All-Star honours for the performances.



"It means everything to the team." said Aidan Zia "The OUA Championship is the cumulation of our season and there is definitely an added pressure to perform when only one team qualifies for Nationals."
 

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On the women's side, they are bringing home a bronze medal after beating the Waterloo Warriors 4-3.



Western secured the doubles point when Jeslyn Peng & Carley Citron as well as Mihika Saraswathi & Lillian Pappas won their matches.

"In the doubles we were down 5-2, it wasn't looking good. Jeslyn and I were struggling and being able to climb back to win 8-6 was an incredible feeling!" said Citron "Being able to captain such a wonderful team and contribute to a huge win was a great way to end off my collegiate tennis career."

In the singles matches Peng, Citron & Sofia Smiechowski all won their points to take the win.

"All three matches played this weekend were highly competitive and the girls were able to keep their composure under pressure and pull out some close matches." Said Co-Head Coach Maciek Gebczynski "After coming in 4th place last year, we are proud to be up a rank. With such a young team there's still room for improvement next year,"

Chantal Stepanova received OUA All-Star honours for her performance.

"It's amazing to get such a strong result in my first year and this medal is definitely recognition of the hard work our team put in throughout the season," said Peng "Winning this medal as a team is so special and motivating to grow and prepare for next season."

FULL AWARDS

Women

Player of the Year:  Winnie Choi, Toronto
Rookie of the Year: Kaira Xuan, Toronto
Coach of the Year: Meghan Mazer, McMaster

All-stars

Winnie Choi, Toronto

Anastasiya Dyadchenko, Toronto

Scarlett Wang, McMaster

Eva Feddema, McMaster

Chantal Stepanova, Western

Madeleine Alexander, Waterloo
 

Men

Player of the Year: Liam Drover-Mattinen, Western
Rookie of the Year: Liam Drover-Mattinen, Western
Coach of the Year: Ken Crosina, York

All-stars
Liam Drover-Mattinen, Western

Ray Xie, Western

Tamas Foldi, Toronto

Rassam Yazdi, Toronto

Max Tokarev, York

Pavle Milic, Waterloo