OUA Announces 2015 Tennis Major Awards and All-Stars

BURLINGTON, Ont. – Ontario University Athletics is excited to announce the 2015 tennis major awards and all-stars.

University of Toronto Varsity Blues standout Zain Manji (Ajax, Ont.) has been named the Men's Player of the Year and an OUA all-star after he helped the Blues capture their first OUA title since 2011.

Manji, a third-year computer science student-athlete, went undefeated at the OUA Tennis Championship.

After opening the tournament with an 8-1 doubles victory over UOIT's No. 1 pair, Manji followed that up with a 6-0 victory over UOIT's Rob Petrican in singles action. Along with partner Sasha Obucina, Manji went on to defeat Montreal's No. 2 doubles team, 8-1, on Saturday, before defeating the Carabins No. 1 singles player Hugo Maurice 7-5, 6-3.

When his team needed him the most, Manji capped off the championship with an 8-6 victory over Western's No. 2 doubles pair of Kurtis Alexandre and fellow OUA all-star Andre Szilvassy (Burlington, Ont.), while also defeating Szilvassy 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 1 singles match.

Along with Manji, Varsity Blues Ivan Markovic (Toronto, Ont.) has also been named an OUA all-star.  In the semifinals, Markovic, along with his doubles partner Cameron Chiang, defeated the No. 1 pair from Montreal 8-6, before winning his singles match against Sebastian Hirt 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-2.  In the final, Markovic dropped both of his matches, however, the Blues still managed to grab the gold.

Waterloo Warriors freshman Eddie Wang (Richmond Hill, Ont.) turned some heads at the OUA championship and was named Men's Rookie of the Year for his efforts.

In the Warriors 4-3 quarter-final victory over the host Lions, Wang along with partner John Chan, defeated York's top pairing 8-3.  He would follow that up in singles action defeating York's Glen Katsnelson in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.

Against Western on Saturday, Wang and Chan won their doubles match to start the day before Chan, playing out of the No. 3 single spot defeated Western Brent Moffatt 6-4 7-6 (9-7) to pick up a much needed point for the Warriors.  But it was not enough as Waterloo fell to Western 5-2. 

Following their semifinal defeat, the Warriors were back in action on Sunday playing for bronze and it was Wang that picked up the lone point on the afternoon for Waterloo defeating Montreal Carabins No. 2 Sebastien Hirt 6-1, 6-1.

Joining Wang on the all-star team is fellow Warrior and doubles partner John Chan (Whistler, B.C.).  Playing out of the No. 1 spot, as previously mentioned, Chan and Wang opened the tournament with an 8-3 doubles victory over York. 

However, he would drop a tight decision to fellow OUA all-star York's Filip Obucina (Etobicoke, Ont.) 3-6, 6-1, 7-6.  Obucina is the lone York Lions player named to the all-star team following his big win over Chan and a close double loss against Joe Zeng and Nathan Flach 7-8 (6).

As previously mentioned, in their semifinal meeting with Western, the Chan and Wang pairing got the Warriors off on the right foot with an 8-5 win over the Mustangs No. 1 pairing.  Chan would suffer a similar fate on Saturday, dropping another close match to Szilvassy () 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

In addition to his win over Chan, Szilvassy also swept both his singles and double matches against the Carleton Ravens in the quarter-finals on his way to being named an all-star.

Waterloo coach Pat Craton helped guide the Warriors to a fourth place finish at the OUA championship and has been selected by her peers as the Men's Coach of the Year.

On the women's side, York Lions standout Nikki Carnovale (Woodbridge, Ont.) helped the Lions to a silver medal at the OUA championship and has been named the Women's Player of the Year.

Playing in the second pairing with teammate Eugenie Lim Ah Tock, the duo opened the tournament with an 8-1 win in their opening doubles match against the Varsity Blues.  Carnovale would follow that up in singles action with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Toronto's No. 1 seed, and fellow OUA all-star, Victoria Au (Richmond Hill, Ont.).

On Sunday in the finals against Montreal, Carnovale dropped both of her matches against the eventual champion Carabins.

One of the players responsible for that doubles loss is fellow OUA all-star and one of the leaders of the Montreal Carabins, Claudine Maheu (Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que.). 

Following a first-round bye, Maheu had an 8-2 doubles victory against the Western Mustangs and followed that up with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Mustangs No. 2 Chantal Forristal.  In the gold medal match against the Lions, Maheu was unstoppable winning the aforementioned doubles match against Carnovale and Lim Ah Tock, before following that up with a 6-1, 6-0 singles victory.

Along with Montreal's Maheu, Martina Tripcovici (Quierschied, Germany) will also represent the Carabins as an OUA all-star after she also went undefeated at the OUA championship.  Tripcovici opened the tournament with an 8-2 victory over Western in doubles action with partner Marianne Jodoin.  Playing out of the No. 3 singles spot, she followed that up with a 6-2, 6-1 win.  On Sunday, Tripcovici and Jodoin defeated Isabella Baston and Elizabeth Branopolski 8-2 before beating Heather Hills in her singles match 8-4.

Western's Helen He (Guelph, Ont.) had an outstanding first season in OUA and has been named the Women's Rookie of the Year and an all-star.

In their quarter-final matchup against the Marauders, He, along with partner Maja Dragovic, defeated McMaster's No. 1 pairing 8-1, before knocking off her No. 1 singles counterpart 6-1, 6-0.  Despite losing both of her matches against the eventual champions from Montreal, He and the Mustangs would bounce back for bronze winning both her doubles and singles matches as Western finished third.

Toronto's Victoria Au will represent the Varsity Blues on the all-star team this season after she helped guide the team to a fourth place finish at the OUA championship.  Au opened the tournament with an 8-7 (7-3) doubles victory over the No. 1 pairing from Waterloo before winning 6-1, 6-1 against Lucy Yao in singles action.  On Saturday in the semifinals against York, Au would drop both her matches to the rival opponents from the York Lions.  Playing out of the No. 1 seed once again on Sunday, Au would fall to fellow all-star He is both her matches.

Joining Carnovale on the all-star team is fellow Lion Ivana Banovic (Oshawa, Ont.).  Following their first-round bye, Banovic won her singles match against Toronto's Kimberly Lai 6-4, 6-3 to help the Lions to a 7-0 win over the Blues.  However, just like her teammate, she fell in both of her matches to the Carabins on Sunday in the gold medal match.

York's Chris Field led the Lions back to the championship once again this season, capturing a silver medal and has been named the Women's Coach of the Year in 2015.

MEN'S MAJOR AWARDS
Player of the Year – Zain Manji – Toronto Varsity Blues
Rookie of the Year – Eddie Wang – Waterloo Warriors
Coach of the Year – Pat Craton – Waterloo Warriors

WOMEN'S MAJOR AWARDS
Player of the Year – Nikki Carnovale – York Lions
Rookie of the Year – Helen He – Western Mustangs
Coach of the Year – Chris Field – York Lions

MEN'S ALL-STARS
Zain Manji – Toronto Varsity Blues
Ivan Markovic – Toronto Varsity Blues
John Chan – Waterloo Warriors
Eddie Wang – Waterloo Warriors
Andre Silvassy – Western Mustangs
Filip Obucina – York Lions

WOMEN'S ALL-STARS
Nikki Carnovale – York Lions
Ivana Banovic – York Lions
Claudine Maheu – Montreal Carabins
Martina Tripcovici – Montreal Carabins
Victoria Au – Toronto Varsity Blues
Helen He – Western Mustangs