Banner Season: Quarterfinal Friday sets Final Four at OUA Tennis Championships
Markam, Ont. (via York Lions) - The first weekend of OUA banner season got underway Friday morning at Mayfair Club – East in Markham, as eight teams began their quests for said coveted banner at the 2025 OUA Tennis Championships.
The day began with the host York Lions taking on the Waterloo Warriors on the women's side, in the 5 vs. 4 matchup. York won four of the six singles matches, which meant, despite losing two of the three doubles matches, the Lions advanced to Saturday's semis, thanks in large part to Palak Balsara, who took down Madeline Alexander, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, staving off four match points for the victory. On the men's side, the No. 3-seed Lions fell to No. 6 Queen's by a 5-2 count. Owen Dunn, Luca Ritchie, Jordan Sweeney and Ben Hilderman earned singles victories for Queen's, while Dunn and Ritchie as well as Hilderman and Jason Nybo helped earn Queen's the doubles point.
The Gaels made quick work of the McMaster Marauders on the women's side, also by a 5-2 margin, in the most shocking upset of Day 1, knocking out the defending silver medallists. Amy Mucea gave the Gaels their first win in singles play, 6-0, 6-1, while Mila Lardiez, Keira Telelis and Alexa Rakocevic also put victories on the board for the 7-seed Gaels.
The No 5-seed Ottawa Gee-Gees will play in the main draw on the men's bracket after downing the No. 4-seed Waterloo Warriors in dominant fashion. Ottawa took all three doubles matches to get on the board first and didn't look back from there, winning eight of the nine matches overall to advance to the semi-finals.
The Ottawa women's team, however, wasn't as lucky, as they drew the defending champion Toronto Varsity Blues in the opening round. The Blues – always a perennial contender at the championships, were too much for the garnet and grey on this day, as they took all nine matches, without dropping a single set, en route to a 7-0 victory.
It was a similar story for the Varsity Blues men's squad, which was the No. 2 seed and battled the Brock Badgers in the quarters. The Blues earned doubles victories from the combinations of Ben Whitley and Eric Ma as well as Luca Kirigin and Yuxuan Zheng, while Kirigin, Whitley, Ma and Alex Zhang all dispatched their Badger counterparts in singles play to win the match 5-2.
The Badgers women's side was also in tough, as they – the No. 6 seed, drew the No. 3-seed Western Mustangs on Day 1. The Mustangs, after settling for bronze a year ago looked like a team that was aiming higher in 2025, winning the match 7-0 and losing only a single set en route to punching their ticket to the semis. Meanwhile, the Mustangs men's contingent began its title defence with an easy victory over the No-8 seed McMaster Marauders, as they earned a 7-0 win, taking two out of three doubles matches to earn their first point before sweeping singles play.
The full schedule for tomorrow can be found HERE.