TENNIS LIONS WIN QUEEN'S CUP TOURNAMENT

The York University Lions tennis team won the Queen’s Cup doubles tournament in honour of Sydney Hermant last weekend (Oct. 22-23).

Student-athletes from York, Montreal, McGill, Toronto, Waterloo and Queen’s competed in men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the event, with points being awarded for each round. The Lions came away with the overall title after a solid weekend of play on the courts.

OUA all-stars Valerie Ushanova and Rob McCallum, both of Toronto, teamed up to win the mixed doubles gold medal.. After earning a bye in the quarter-finals, the duo recorded a thrilling comeback win in the semifinals, taking out Toronto’s pairing 4-6, 6-1, 13-11 to advance to the championship match.

They played another exciting three-setter in the final, defeating Montreal 6-3, 3-6, 10-5 to earn the title.

Also experiencing success at the event was the women’s doubles tandem of Joelle Fisher (Toronto) and Julia Khalilova (Etobicoke, Ont.). A 6-2, 6-2 win over Waterloo and a 6-4, 7-6 victory over McGill advanced the team to the gold-medal match, where they were eventually stopped by Toronto. However, the second-place finish earned the squad enough points to take home the overall title.

The Lions have one more event this year, the OUA team championships from Nov. 11-13. The tournament will be hosted by the Lions at Rexall Centre.