The familiar faces continue to dominate the university tennis scene in Ontario.
Since 2018, Western University and the University of Toronto are the only schools to claim the OUA Championship. This year, the Mustangs reclaimed the men's title while the Varsity Blues secured their fourth consecutive women's crown.
Here is the monthly university tennis update.
U of T was looking to sweep the Ontario tennis championships for the second year in a row. The women did their part, beating Brock, York, and Queen's on their way to the title.
Photo : Aimee Dalla Rosa
The Varsity Blues cruised through the first two rounds, easily dispatching Brock and York by identical 6-1 scorelines. They had a tougher time in the final against Queen's but U of T managed to hang on to make it a four-peat with a 4-3 win.
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Their male counterparts started off their title defence well with a 7-0 win over McMaster, but Western was not about to let U of T take both titles for the second year in a row. After their own 7-0 win over Brock in the quarter-finals, the Mustangs took down the defending champs 5-2 in the semis.
Western's men finished off their dominant run with a 4-0 victory over Queen's.
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U of T settled for bronze on the men's side, beating the University of Ottawa 5-2. Western took bronze on the women's side with a 6-1 win over York.
Queen's, the runner-up in both men's and women's, remains without an OUA Tennis Championship in the 21st century. Their last wins were in 1997 (men) and 1999 (women).
In an ironic twist, the last school other than Western and U of T to win the provincial championship in Ontario was not even an Ontario school. The Université de Montréal won the women's title in 2015 and the men's in 2017. The last Ontario-based school to win other than Western and U of T was York University, who won the women's title in 2014 and the men's in 2009.
Dong heading to NCAA DI Championships
Canadian Emma Dong of the University of Georgia delivered a near-flawless performance at the NCAA DI Women's Southeast Regional Championships to punch her ticket to the National Individual Championships in both singles and doubles.
The Sophomore earned her spot at the national championships by reaching the final of both draws at the event held earlier this month at the University of Miami.
In doubles, she was seeded fourth with Ranah Stoiber and the pair cruised to the title without dropping a set. They lost just eight games in the semis and finals combined, delivering one bagel set in each round, capping off their run with a 7-5, 6-0 win over the pair from the University of Central Florida.
Dong also did not drop a set on her way to the singles final, losing a mere 16 games in five matches. Just reaching the final was enough to earn her spot at the national championships.
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Feature Photo : Aimee Dalla Rosa
