Every spring the Irish Universities host their annual Tennis Intervarsities. This years event was hosted by University College Dublin, at the picturesque Mount Pleasant Club in Central Dublin. The organisers of the event were Brian Gibney and Naoise McEoin, both from the area and playing in Fitzwilliam and Donnybrook respectively.
This year University College Cork sent up three teams, two mens and a ladies teams.
Men's 1st:
1. Rob Mawe (c)
2. Rob Sheahan
3. Jamie Blake
4. Conor Kelly
5. Maurice Reidy
6. Luke Warner
Men's 2nd:
1. Kevin McCarthy (c)
2. Declan Whelan Curtin
3. Cathal O'Connor
4. Stephen Crofts
5. Mark O'Donovan
6. James Cooney
Ladies:
1. Tracey O'Rourke (c)
2. Grace Morrissey
3. Vivenne Hoary
4. Maria O'Brien
5. Fiona Jagla
6. Olivia Creed
The men's draw contained 4 round robin sections each with three teams. The men's 1st included UCC 1, Tralee IT and UCD 2. The men's 2nd included UCC 2, DCU and UCD 3. The ladies draw was knockout all the way due to a smaller entry.
On the Monday both men's teams played and won. UCC 1 beat UCD 2 to a score of 8-1 (Best of 9 rubbers). And UCC 2 beat UCD 3 also 8-1. Unfortunately the ladies team lost to UCD 2 and were forced into the plate event.
On the Tuesday morning UCC 2 played DCU, consecutive champions for the previous 6 years. UCC 2 lost 9-0 but could take pride in some of the performances. This result would now put UCC 2 into the plate event against Trinity College 2.
On the Wednesday UCC 1 beat Tralee IT 7-2 to advance to the semi-finals. The semi-final matches were randomly drawn and they were Trinity College 1/UCC 1 and Dublin City University/UCD 1. Later that day UCC Ladies would beat UCD 3 to advance to the final of the plate.
On the Thursday morning the semis of the men's main draw took place. DCU would beat UCD 1 with a score of 5-1. UCC 1 played a strong Trinity team including Leinster Interpro players: Mark Carpenter and Gavin Gilhawley.
The singles were divided 3-3 with Jamie Blake beating Andrew Stevenson 6/2,6/1. Luke Warner beat Jack McHugh and Conor Kelly scored a great win against Simon Clarke 6/4,7/5. Robert Mawe, Maurice Reidy and Robert Sheahan all lost in close matches. The doubles would decide the result and unfortunately Trinity would emerge 2-1 victors.
In the plate event both UCC 2 and UCC Ladies would lose in the finals of the plate. The men's team were beaten 5-3 by Trinity 2 and the ladies 5-2 by Galway. The ladies match saw a great victory for UCC Ladies captain Tracey O'Rourke against Connacht Interpro player Marion Hanley, 6/4,6/3.
On to finals day and a sence of deja-vu as both DCU men's and ladies would walk away with the trophies. DCU men's would beat Trinity to a score of 5-0 with strong performances from their players Simon Wrafter, Dara McLoughlin, Dara Rowan and more. The ladies event was closer with a result of 5-4. Some great matches could be seen including Cork's Niamh Coveney and Jenny Claffey.
The event was fantastically organised by UCD and Mount Pleasant Tennis Club and we at UCC are looking forward to next year in Galway.
Article submitted by Kevin McCarthy.
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