The York University Lions women's tennis team began its OUA championship defence with a pair of convincing wins over the UOIT Ridgebacks and Western Mustangs on the road this weekend.
The Lions swept the Ridgebacks by earning all seven points in their season opener in Oshawa, Ont., on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 19) and returned to the courts the following day, this time in London, Ont., to post a 5-2 victory over the Mustangs.
The men's team also had a strong showing against UOIT, winning by the same 7-0 score. They were less successful against the two-time defending OUA champion Mustangs, however, falling by a score of 6-1.
Against the Ridgebacks, the Lions women's team had three singles matches end without the opposition earning a game as
Nikki Carnovale (Woodbridge, Ont.),
Ivana Banovic (Oshawa, Ont.) and
Rita Kryeziu (Toronto) all swept their opponents. The three of them were also successful in doubles, with Banovic and Kryeziu teaming up to win their match 8-1 and Carnovale partnering with
Randa Hassan (Toronto) to win 8-0.
Banovic, who played out of the third spot against the Ridgebacks, moved up to the second spot on Sunday against Western and was just as impressive, coming back from one set down to defeat Mellissa Lee 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in her singles match. She and Kryeziu also played a hard-fought doubles contest, falling 7-3 in the tiebreaker to lose the match 8-7.
Also winning their singles matches against the Mustangs were
Heather Hills (Markham, Ont.),
Isabella Baston (Toronto) and Hassan, all of them taking down their opponents in straight sets.
On the men's side,
Filip Obucina (Etobicoke, Ont.), playing out of the top spot for the first time, made an impressive debut at the position by winning both of his singles matches, including a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 comeback victory over Western's Andre Szilvassy and a lopsided 6-1, 6-0 triumph over UOIT's Robert Petrican.
The Lions will be back in action again this weekend, first travelling downtown to face the Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday (Sept. 26) beginning at 12pm. They will play their home opener against the McGill Redmen/Martlets starting at 10am on Sunday (Sept. 27).
