TORONTO, Ont. - The McMaster tennis teams traveled to Mayfair Toronto East for the 2022 OUA Tennis Championships in search of a spot on the podium.
Both the McMaster men's and women's teams faced off with the York Lions on Friday morning with only the winners of each contest moving on to the semifinals and the medal round.
On the men's side, McMaster was swept by the host York Lions in the doubles and singles matches to fall 7-0. With the sweep, the Marauders were eliminated from the championship and were unable to maintain their #3 ranking from the previous season.
For the women, things were slightly more dramatic on Day 1. The Lions opened with a sweep in the doubles competition to earn a point meaning that McMaster would have to win four of six singles matches to advance to the semifinals. Maia Mureseanu (Oakville, Ont.) and Audrey Yeung (Markham, Ont.) got the maroon and grey off to a strong start with 7-5, 6-4 and 6-0, 6-0 two set victories over the Lions. Anastasija Kunovac (Burlington, Ont.), Alexandra Shulkin (Ancaster, Ont.) and Adele Lee (Toronto, Ont.) all dropped their opening sets but each battled back to a third and deciding set with their competitors. Lee won her third set while Kunovac fell to the Lions, tying the score at 3-3. With Shulkin the last on the court, the Marauders' future at the Championship would be determined by this one outcome. With her teammates cheering her on from the spectators' area, Shulkin secured the victory and ensured her team would play for a medal. After over three hours of competition, McMaster edged York to advance to the second round.
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On Day 2, the Marauders faced the defending OUA Champions - the Toronto Varsity Blues. A very strong team, the Varsity Blues cruised to a 7-0 victory, guaranteeing themselves a spot in the finals while the Marauders would play for the bronze. In the other semifinal, the Western Mustangs also came away with a 7-0 victory over the Waterloo Warriors to set the stage for Championship Sunday - Marauders vs Warriors for bronze and Varsity Blues versus Mustangs for gold.
With the most meaningful games to be played on the third and final day of competition, McMaster's goal was clear - to land on the podium and return to Hamilton with some hardware. The Marauders were able to earn the point from the doubles portion, taking two out of three matches. The clincher came courtesy of Mena Shaheed (Pittsford, USA) and Gauri Porwal (Cambridge, Ont.), who took down the Warriors 8-4. McMaster then swept the six singles matches, despite a couple of close scores. Yeung won the clinching match for McMaster, as she defeated her competitor 6-0, 6-3 and the Marauders took the remaining matches to soundly defeat the Warriors 7-0 en route to the bronze.
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What makes this outcome even more impressive is that the Marauders were without first-year head coach,
Kirsten Magi, at the Championships and were actually coached by captains Meghan Mazer (Rockwood, Ont.) and Mureseanu on Friday before
Doug Ho of the men's program stepped in as interim coach on Saturday and Sunday.
This is McMaster's first women's tennis OUA medal in over 20 years and with some new hardware, the Marauders are sure to be a threat in 2023.
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