On Saturday, February 1st, the UBC TSC Women’s and Men’s Tennis Teams invited out top BC Juniors to the UBC Tennis Center for the annual UBC vs Tennis BC (TBC) competitive exhibition match, as part of UBC TSC Tennis’ outreach programs. Highlights of the night not only included some great tennis action on the court, but also an informal info session on university tennis at UBC, along with time for the BC junior players to get to know the UBC TSC Men’s and Women’s players off court. Overall, the results were split amongst teams, as the UBC TSC Men’s Team took their match 6-1, while the UBC TSC Women’s Team lost in a tight 3-4 match. But most importantly, everyone enjoyed a great night of tennis!
UBC TSC Women’s Team and TBC Juniors before their match.
On the Women’s side, the Thunderbirds were slow to start in doubles, dropping the three doubles matches to the TBC Juniors. However, the T-birds were quick to bounce back in singles: Abigail Heninger secured the first singles point, taking the match 6-2,6-2 against Olivia Wein at the No. 6 position. Meanwhile, No. 3 Sara Zupanc and No. 2 Madi Fan grinded it out nextdoor against Brianne Jim and Vicky Huang, each falling short in tough two setters. No. 1, Jessica Silva and No. 4, Michelle Lim evened out the scoreboard to 3-3, after tight super-tiebreaker wins against Isabella Asenov and Viktoria Abanos – taking the super-breakers 10-8 and 10-7, respectively. The TBC Juniors secured their win in the final match, as T-bird Sofia Kresta fell to Paige Grice, 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 5 position. Women’s team member, and Finance Officer Lily Eisler shared her feelings on the match: “The UBC TSC Tennis Team matches against the BC juniors yesterday were great to watch! The matches were extremely close with great sportsmanship demonstrated by both sides. It was really beneficial for our team to get a good match in with some top performing juniors, while giving them a taste of Canadian University Tennis!”.
TBC Junior Henry Ren shakes hands with UBC TSC Men’s No. 1 team, David Zoric and Graeme McIntosh after doubles match.
Meanwhile, on the Men’s end, the BC Juniors once again proved to be a formidable challenge. In doubles, the No. 1 team, Graeme McIntosh and David Zorič defeated Henry Ren and Ronak Khara 8-4, while No. 2 pairing, Kristian Kiland and Gregory Kuntjoro clinched a win again Ben Dee and Ben Dugmore with a tight score of 8-7(5), securing the doubles point. In singles, No. 1 Andrew Oh started off the night with a tough 6-1, 6-4 loss to top BC junior Henry Ren. However, T-bird Kuntjoro took the next point at the No. 2 position, defeating Ronak Khara 6-2, 6-3, while McIntosh once again showed his mental toughness, grinding out a convincing 6-3, 6-3 win against Ben Dugmore. The Thunderbirds continued bringing in the wins with Alex Kim defeating Ben Dee 6-3, 6-2, and Kiland taking a 6-1, 6-0 win over William Lin at positions No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. To finish off the night, No. 6 Raj Parekh defeated Luke White in an exciting 6-4, 6-4 showdown. Overall, it was a great match-up for both teams, and a solid performance for the T-birds heading into their biggest matches of the season in the coming weeks.
Men’s No. 3 Doubles team Andrew Oh and Stefan Lazarevic in doubles action.
Next in store for the UBC TSC Women’s Tennis Team is a trip to Seattle, WA for the Valentine’s Day weekend, to compete against two NCAA teams; Whitman University and Seattle University. While the Men’s Team will stay home to compete in the Men’s BC Regionals against UVIC and SFU on February 7th-8th at the UBC Tennis Centre. To keep up with the latest news, be sure to follow our social media accounts below!