Lale FassoneOn August 11, the University of Alberta Pandas tennis team secured its fifth straight national title in Montreal against the Université Laval Rouge. This was the first year that tennis was recognized by U Sports.
U Sports is the governing body of Canadian University sports. It is now partnered with Tennis Canada to organize university-level national championships and develop tennis in Canada.
Emma Rutherford, captain of the Pandas tennis team, and Emily Granson, a previous National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) athlete, were named to the Championship All-Star Team. Rutherford is a fourth-year engineering undergraduate. She has played for the Pandas for the last three years. Granson is in her second year of her pharmacy program and a rookie on the Pandas.
“The recognition [from U Sports] was probably more important than just the individual award for the All-Star team. The fact that [this] is now an award we can get,” Rutherford said.
This is the Pandas’ fifth year winning a national title. Rutherford and Granson said how each year they receive more attention from the university because of this.
“Especially our first year in U Sports, there’s that added excitement and pressure and [the want] to win,” Rutherford said.
“We had a very new team this year,” Granson says
Last year, the team only had six players, just enough for a full lineup. This year the team had 10 players which made a “huge difference” according to Granson.
“The new competition was going to be really tough going into it. We had a very new team this year [with] a lot of rookies. Myself being one of them,” Granson said.
Having the bigger team allowed for more practice competitions and a variety of practices for the team.
“Having an extra few people on the sidelines cheering made a huge difference, especially since we were in Montreal. Laval Rouge had a lot of fans there, so having a few extra teammates on the sidelines [helped],” Granson said.
“Every single year I feel like I just want to win more,” Rutherford says
The Pandas secured the win after defeating Laval Rouge 4-1. Last year they defeated McGill University, who this season lost to Laval Rouge in their respective league.
“Every single year I feel like I just want to win more. That feeling doesn’t go away. Every year, you have a new team [and] it’s just a very different dynamic. It’s never boring or repetitive, it’s always really exciting,” Rutherford said.
Since nationals are held in the summer, it posed some challenges to the Pandas athletes. They were unable to train altogether leading up to nationals. Their last team practice was in early April.
Nationals are held during the summer so that the players get to play at the Rogers Cup. Here, they get the opportunity to see professional tennis players, while also garnering more publicity.
“Tennis is a very individual sport, but it leaves a lot of responsibility to the players that aren’t in Edmonton to train and organize matches,” Rutherford said.
The doubles point at nationals is a big advantage for any team due to its effect on momentum. The doubles point is the final match point for the sequence of doubles matches before singles. If won, it eliminates the need to win four out of six singles. This year the Pandas won the double point.
“I trained on my own throughout the summer. Not being able to practice with your doubles partner throughout the summer is a little bit tricky, but our doubles worked out super well at nationals,” Granson said.
Both the Pandas and Golden Bears are set to go to Idaho to play against an American team.
“I don’t know the last time that the Pandas and the Golden Bears got to travel to the United States to play a match. It’s going to be a really good opportunity to play a different team, get some extra matches in, and it’ll help us prepare for nationals next year,” Granson said.
