The Waterloo women's tennis team had their most successful season-ending OUA Championships ever on the weekend when the University of Western Ontario hosted the event at the University Tennis Centre in London.
The women Warriors seeded fifth faced fourth seed Toronto in the first round on Friday. Toronto was without the services of a couple of their top women and the Warriors capitalized on this situation to edge the Blues 4-3.
The doubles point was won by Waterloo when the #3 pair of rookies Nancy Wu and Daniela Castro came through with an 8-5 win. The win ensured a place for the Warriors to contest for the bronze medal on Sunday as the chances of beating #1 York on Saturday were little to none. Not surprisingly Waterloo was swept by York on Saturday 7-0.
On Sunday the Warriors faced Montreal, last year's OUA champions for the bronze medal. Montreal had been 6-1 by Western on Saturday.
In doubles #1
Nancy Baloescu (Kitchener) and
Lupita Widyasanti (New Westminster) won their match 8-6 but # 2
Colleen Fernandes (Mississauga) and
Nathalie Skaf (San Jose, CR) fell 3-8 which meant the doubles point was to be decided by the #3 pairs. With supporters from both teams crowding the court and the scores so close, Waterloo's rookie pair of Nancy Wu and Daniela Castro managed to hold their nerves to eke out a win 8-7 with a 9-7 win in the tie-break.
Unfortunately the Warriors could not carry over the winning form to singles winning only two of the six singles. Nancy Balosecu at #1 and Widyasanti at #4 were the winners for Waterloo. These two Warriors gave solid performances throughout the weekend losing only to their York opponents. The Warriors were disappointed coming so close to winning a medal but this year's fourth place at the OUAs is probably the best showing for the women ever.
Western scored an upset beating York 4-3 for the OUA Championship title on Sunday. It was York's first defeat for the entire season.
OUA Quarter-Finals - Waterloo 4 vs Toronto 3
Doubles:
Nancy Baloescu (Kitchener) &
Lupita Widyasanti (New Westminster) bt Alex Boone & Alara Demirag 8-0
Colleen Fernandes (Mississauga) &
Nathalie Skaf (San Jose, CR) lost to Olga Borissenko & Jaime Foster 5 -8
Nancy Wu & Daniela Castro bt
Nicole Holland (Oakville) & Kimberly Lai 8-5
Singles:
Baloescu bt Boone 6-0, 6-2
Fernandes lost to Demirag 1-6, 3-6
Skaf bt Foster 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Widyasanti bt Holland 7-5, 6-1
Wu lost to Borissenko 3-6, 3-6
Trish Abraham lost to Lai 6-4, 3-6, 2-6
OUA Semifinals - York 7, Waterloo 0
Doubles:
Nancy Baloescu (Kitchener) &
Lupita Widyasanti (New Westminster) lost to Nikki Carnovale & Heather Mills 3-8
Colleen Fernandes (Mississauga) &
Nathalie Skaf (San Jose, CR) lost to Claudia Poluga & Vanessa Eregi 3-8
Nancy Wu & Trish Abraham lost to Eugenie Tock & Sara Krupic 2-8
Singles:
Baloescu lost to Carnovale 3-6, 3-6
Colleen Fernandes (Mississauga) lost to Poluga 5-7, 3-6
Skaf lost to Tock 1-6, 1-6
Widyasanti lost to Mills 2-6,1-6
Wu lost to Isabella Baston 3-6, 2-6
Daniela Castro lost to Krupic 1-6, 1-6
OUA Bronze Medal - Montreal 4, Waterloo 3
Doubles:
Nancy Baloescu (Kitchener) &
Lupita Widyasanti (New Westminster) bt Catherine Drolet & Zoe Lacouresiere 8-6
Colleen Fernandes (Mississauga) &
Nathalie Skaf (San Jose, CR) lost to Sophie Dagenais & Lauriane Roussel 5-8
Nancy Wu & Daniela Castro bt Catherine Landry & Myriam Beauchemin 8-7 (9-7)
Singles:
Baloescu bt Lacouresiere 6-4, 6-2
Fernandes lost to Drolet 0-6, 5-7
Skaf lost to Roussel 1-6, 4-6
Widyasanti bt Dagenais 6-3, 7-5
Wu lost to Beauchemin 2-6, 1-6
Castro lost to Landry 1-6, 2-6
