Women's Tennis had one of their best team results in years when they beat the visiting Yeomen at the Waterloo Tennis Club on Saturday.

The York women have been one of the most dominant women's teams for the best part of the last decade. While they are no longer the premier women's team, they are never to be discounted.

The doubles started with the Waterloo # 3 team winning their match impressively but  losing at #2  leaving  #1 teams to decide the doubles point.  A nervously played tiebreak by the Warriors cost them the match and the doubles point.

When the singles round started, York raced to a 2-0 lead when their #3 won in straight sets. This was followed up with another York win at #2, by three hard-fought sets. Now 3-0 up, York needed only one more win to go home victorious.  At this point, Waterloo came in with a win at #5. At the time, it was regarded as only a token resistance.  No one thought or imagined  that this could prove to be the  turning point in the fortunes of the Warriors.   At this time, Nathalie Skaf (Kitchener/) at #4 was having a battle and had just started the third set, #6 rookie Mackenzie Dumais (New Hamburg/), making her debut this weekend, took to the court and the  #1s a few minutes later.  This was the situation when the score was 1-3 against Waterloo.

If Waterloo were to have any chance of success, it meant that they had to win all three matches now on court.   A tall and improbable order given the past results of the schools. There was a glimmer of hope when Skaf and her opponent were by now locked in a third set tiebreak. A loss then would render the two remaining matches on court, meaningless.  This is when the veteran (Engineering grad) realized she had to win the points with positive play as they were not going to be handed to her. Playing the tie break meant more pressure but she managed to gut it out to win it at 5. With the score now 2-3 to York, the match which was quietly being played by rookie Mackenzie Dumais (New Hamburg/) at #6, suddenly became significant. Playing a secure and steady game against an erratic opponent, Dumais won the first set 6-3. The second set was won by an identical score though the last games were nervously played. Understandingly so.   All credit to Dumais for keeping her nerve to secure her first varsity match victory.   

Dumais' win evened the score to 3-3.  The outcome of the tie now was being decided by the #1s still battling out on court. There was a great excitement as team mates, both men and women cheered every point won by their player.  Having had a sub- par performance earlier in doubles, Waterloo's Tursunkhanova fortunately returned to form at least on her groundstrokes;  her serve was still nowhere to be seen. Even with that handicap, she managed to eke out a highly entertaining and nerve wracking victory. When Tursunkhanova won the last point she was mobbed by her team mates in celebration of her win and their improbable team victory.   Well done Warriors!!
 
Results

Doubles:
Adema Tursunkhanova (Almaty/)/Vanessa Seto (Richmond Hill/) lost to Sara Krupica 7-8(1)
Nancy Wu (Scarborough/)/Mackenzie Dumais (New Hamburg/) lost to Claudia Poluga/Lobna Hassan 8-1
Savanna Cornfield (Vancouver/)/Evi Zafiris bt Daniela Sanchez/Pakinam Elbouhi 8-3
 
Singles:
Tursunkhanova bt Poluga 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
Zafiris lost to Krupica   7-6, 4-6,3-6
Seto lost to Ereqi  2-6, 1-6
Nathalie Skaf (Kitchener/) bt Lobna Hassan 6-7, 6-3, 7-6 (5)
Nancy Wu (Scarborough/) bt Daniela Sanchez 6-4, 6-0
Mackenzie Dumais (New Hamburg/) bt Pakinam Elbouhi 6-3, 6-3

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Waterloo 6  Brock 1
 
Following on their win over York the previous day, a confident Warriors team was again at home Sunday to play the Brock Badgers.

The doubles point was secured by Waterloo with wins at #1 and #3. #2 pair lost a close encounter 7-8 (6) narrowly missing out on a clean sweep.

The #1 and #2 singles matches took a long time for a winner to emerge.  Great effort and stamina were expended by all four players involved in these two matches. Eventually Waterloo won at #1 but lost at #2. Both matches went the distance to three sets. Vanessa Seto (Richmond Hill/) playing at #3 had a comparatively quick and easy game against her opponent which made up for her loss the day before. The match which sealed victory for the Warriors came when #6 Savanna Cornfield (Vancouver/) completed her match with a routine win. The last two matches on court went in Waterloo's favour giving the Warriors another well- earned victory over the weekend. A great weekend of wins for the Warriors.
Warriors next match is Sept 28 at the Waterloo Tennis Club against the Western Mustangs, the defending OUA champions.
 
Results:

Doubles:
Adema Tursunkhanova (Almaty/)/Vanessa Seto (Richmond Hill/) bt Liana Biktmorova/Arijana Rudic  8-2
Nancy Wu (Scarborough/)/ Mackenzie Dumais (New Hamburg/) lost to Nicole Clarke/ Lauren Stevens 7-8(6)
Savanna Cornfield (Vancouver/)/ Evi Zafiris bt Nadine Klajman/Christine Munoz   8-6
 
Singles:
Tursunkhanova bt Biktmorova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
Zafaris lost to Rudic   2-6, 6-3, 4-6
Seto bt Stevens 6-1, 6-1
Nathalie Skaf (Kitchener/) bt Klajman 6-2, 6-4
Wu bt Clarke 6-1, 7-6 (2)
Cornfield bt Munoz 6-2, 6-1