The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's tennis team opened their 2023 campaign with a trio of weekend victories, led by stellar play from a quartet of first-year student-athetes.
In their first matches of the Friday season opener versus York, U of T claimed all three of their doubles contests. Then in the singles matches, Toronto was led by No. 1 Anastasiya Dyadchenko who made quick work of her counterpart from York. Alongside fellow first-year Blues Felina Yang, Noelle Vanessa-Wilbert, and Jana Al-Khatib, the quartet won all their matches as the four rookies took up the top four singles rankings and all three doubles teams on the Toronto roster.
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| WOMEN'S |
                                                   TORONTO won 5-2 |
| DOUBLES |
TORONTOÂ 5 |
|
|
YORKÂ 2 |
| # 1 |
TORONTO |
Anastasiya Dyadchenko / Maria Popova |
W |
8-5 |
Grace Whitley / Mia Soccio |
| # 2 |
TORONTO |
Felina Yang / Noelle Vanessa-Wilbert |
W |
8-4 |
Palak Balsara / Nemdini Ratnayake Mudiyanselage |
| # 3 |
TORONTO |
Carmen Nahat / Jana Al-Khatib |
W |
8-3 |
Gabriella Mongua / Ekaterina Tverdovskaia |
| SINGLES |
|
|
|
|
| # 1 |
TORONTO |
Anastasiya Dyadchenko |
WÂ |
6-0, 6-1Â |
Mia Soccio |
| # 2 |
TORONTO |
Felina Yang |
W |
6-3, 6-4 |
Palak Balsara |
| # 3 |
TORONTO |
Noelle Vanessa-Wilbert |
W |
6-0, 6-0 |
Nemdini Ratnayake Mudiyanselage |
| # 4 |
TORONTO |
Jana Al-Khatib |
W |
6-3, 3-6, 14-12Â |
Tamara Janev |
| # 5 |
TORONTO |
Kristina Matthews |
L |
4-6, 6-3, 12-14 |
Ekaterina Tverdovskaia |
| # 6 |
TORONTO |
Linda Lee |
L |
4-6, retired |
Rida Khan |
Toronto followed their season opener up with a shutout 7-0 victory versus the visiting McMaster Marauders. Third-year veteran Janet Pham played exceptionally well, winning both her doubles match with partner Linda Lee, and convincingly taking her singles match in the six-slot for the Varsity Blues.
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| WOMEN'S |
                                                   TORONTO won 7-0 |
| DOUBLES |
TORONTOÂ 7 |
|
|
MCMASTERÂ 0 |
| # 1 |
TORONTO |
Felina Yang / Noelle Vanessa-Wilbert  |
W |
8-6 |
E. Feddema / M. Muresean |
| # 2 |
TORONTO |
Carmen Nahat / Jana Al-Khatib |
L |
7-8 |
S. Rubenstein / M. Shaheed |
| # 3 |
TORONTO |
Janet Pham / Linda Lee |
W |
8-1 |
A Chauhan / K. Xuan |
| SINGLES |
|
|
|
|
| # 1 |
TORONTO |
Anastasiya Dyadchenko |
WÂ |
6-1, 6-4Â |
E. Feddema |
| # 2 |
TORONTO |
Noelle Vanessa-Wilbert |
W |
6-2, 6-1 |
M. Muresean |
| # 3 |
TORONTO |
Felina Yang |
W |
6-4, 1-6, 6-2Â |
S. Rubenstein |
| # 4 |
TORONTO |
Maria Popova |
W |
6-0, 6-3 |
S. Shulkin |
| # 5 |
TORONTO |
Carmen Nahat |
W |
7-5, 6-2 |
I. Heyland |
| # 6 |
TORONTO |
Janet Pham |
W |
6-1, 6-0 |
A. Lee |
Concluding their weekend with a tough matchup against Waterloo, U of T was buoyed by a full compliment of double victories, while Vanessa-Wilbert, Yang, and Al-Khatib all picked up singles wins to claim the 4-3 overall success versus the Warriors.
Â
| WOMEN'S |
                                                   TORONTO won 4-3 |
| DOUBLES |
TORONTOÂ 4 |
|
|
WATERLOOÂ 3 |
| # 1 |
TORONTO |
Felina Yang / Noelle Vanessa-Wilbert  |
WÂ |
8-7 |
Aldi Lazoja / A. Tursunkhanova |
| # 2 |
TORONTO |
Janet Pham / Mia Wong |
W |
8-7 |
Nicole Pardav / Jana Clodin |
| # 3 |
TORONTO |
Linda Lee / Jana Al-Khatib |
W |
8-3 |
Maddie Alexander / Thea Bozsitz |
| SINGLES |
|
|
|
|
| # 1 |
TORONTO |
Anastasiya Dyadchenko |
L |
7-6, 0-6, 7-10Â |
Aldi Lazoja |
| # 2 |
TORONTO |
Noelle Vanessa-Wilbert |
W |
6-3, 6-3 |
A. Tursunkhanova |
| # 3 |
TORONTO |
Maria Popova |
W |
2-3, retired |
Thea Bozsitz |
| # 4 |
TORONTO |
Felina Yang |
W |
6-3, 6-4Â |
Nicole Pardav |
| # 5 |
TORONTO |
Carmen Nahat |
W |
0-6, 0-3, retired |
Jana Clodin |
| # 6 |
TORONTO |
Jana Al-Khatib |
W |
6-4, 7-5 |
Maddie Alexander |
The Blues are right back in action next weekend as they face a pair of opponents in Western and Brock. Hosting at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus, U of T will face the Mustangs on Saturday, Sept. 16 and the Badgers on Sunday, Sept. 17.
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