MONTREAL - The Pandas tennis dynasty continues, as they defeated the Laval Rouge et Or 4-1 on Sunday afternoon in Montreal to capture their fifth-straight national title. 

Pandas Tennis joins Pandas Rugby (1999-2003) and Pandas Volleyball (1995-2000) as the only programs in University of Alberta history to win five or more national championships consecutively. 
 

BOXSCORE

The Pandas raced out to an early 3-1 lead over Laval, taking the doubles point, followed by two of the first three singles matches. The pairings of Emma Rutherford and Alexandra Jewitt, along with Emily Granson and Sandra Taskovic earned doubles victories for the Pandas, giving them an early 1-0 lead. 

Jewitt and Marena Diaz Nakagawa followed up with singles wins in the first session, highlighted by a 6-4, 6-3 straight-sets win by Diaz Nakagawa. 

Rutherford and Granson were named to the Championship All-Star team, while Sonia Skobkareva — who secured the championship-winning point — was named the Rookie of the Year. 

Alberta punched their ticket to a seventh-straight national final with a 7-0 win over the Dalhousie Tigers on Friday afternoon. 

During their current national title streak, the Pandas own a 35-1 win/loss record, dating back to the start of the 2018/19 season. Over those six years, the Pandas are 173-42 combined in singles and doubles matches.

 

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