TORONTO, Ont. - The Toronto Varsity Blues and Western Mustangs took home the OUA women's and men's tennis championships, respectively on Sunday night at Mayfair Club Toronto East.
The Championship was hosted by the Warriors, who finished seventh in both the women's and men's tournament.
The Blues earned their fourth-straight championship, and 44th all-time, thanks to a dominating performance which saw them concede only one point each in their quarterfinal and semifinal matches against Brock and York respectively before edging the Queen's Gaels 4-3 in the final.
Toronto's Maria Popova was the only player on the women's side to win six matches, going a perfect 3-0 without dropping a set in singles play and adding three more wins with doubles partner Anastasiya Dyadchenko. Popova won an incredible 61 of 77 games all told. Both Popova and Dyadchenko were named OUA all-stars
On the other side of the bracket, Queen's beat McMaster 4-1 in the quarterfinal then eked out a 4-3 victory over perennial powerhouse Western. The Gaels came just short of earning their first OUA Championship since 1999, however. OUA Rookie of the Year Brooke Feth was the standout for the tricolour, winning four of five matches.
Western took the bronze medal match 6-1. Mustangs Yutong Zou and Madeleine Martynyshyn were the only other two players to go undefeated in the tournament, winning five matches each. Fourth-place York's Grace Whitley was awarded Player of the Year, going 5-1 in the tournament.
The Mustangs faired even better on the men's side, winning their fourth championship in six years and 25th all-time. They blanked Brock 7-0 in the quarterfinal on Friday, and took down the defending champion Varsity Blues in Saturday's semifinal, 5-2. They wasted no time in re-claiming their spot atop the podium with a 4-0 victory in the gold medal game over Queen's.
Doubles partners Liam Drover-Mattinen and Luke Adrian were unstoppable for Western, going 3-0 each in their singles matches while also sporting a perfect 3-0 record in doubles play. Neither player dropped a set all weekend. Both were named OUA all-stars, with Drover-Mattinen taking home Player of the Year honours. Mustangs Kirill Chepushtanov and Jonathan Bulla touted undefeated records as well, winning four matches each.
Queen's took the long route to the final, beating York and Ottawa by identical scores of 4-3 in the quarterfinal and semifinal, respectively. It was not to be for the Golden Gaels, who'd settle for two silver medals this weekend. Dylan Ginsberg was the top man for Queen's, winning three of four matches and earning an OUA All-Star nod.
The Varsity Blues would defeat the Gee-Gees 5-2 in the bronze medal match. Toronto's Eward Kruppe and host Waterloo's Sava Uncianschi (Waterloo, Ont./Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute) were the only non-Mustangs to win four matches, each going a perfect 4-0.
Despite the dominating performance, Mustangs Head Coach Anthony Glavanic called it an "unexpected win."
"Knowing we had six rookies and to see how great they gelled with our veterans, it was a very satisfying year."
"The championship was so well run by everybody, and I wish more people got to watch what great tennis it was," he continued. "It's great for tennis in Ontario."
OUA Tennis All-Stars
Women's
Anastasiya Dyadchencko, Toronto
Maria Popova, Toronto
Brooke Feth, Queen's
Nawal Youssef, Queen's
Sierra Ausman, Western
Grace Whitley, York
Men's
Liam Drover-Mattinen, Western
Luke Adrian, Western
Dylan Ginsberg, Queen's
Matt Truong, Queen's
Lucas Mack, Toronto
Filip Popadish, Ottawa
OUA Tennis Award Winners
Women's
Rookie of the Year: Brooke Feth, Queen's
Player of the Year: Grace Whitley, York
Coach of the Year: Maciek Gebczynski and Chantal Forristal, Western
Men's
Rookie of the Year: Luke Adrian, Western
Player of the Year: Liam Drover-Mattinen, Western
Coach of the Year: Zhenya Kandratovski, Ottawa
