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Back-to-back tennis championships for Notre-Dame student

Make it back-to-back city tennis championships for Collège Notre-Dame multi-sport athlete Sebastien Dugas-Ruest. The 18-year-old senior, who is also a mainstay both with the Alouettes basketball and soccer teams, took out Brad Mackenzie of St.
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Collège Notre-Dame multi-sport athlete Sebastien Dugas-Ruest has won back-to-back city tennis championships. Supplied photo.
Make it back-to-back city tennis championships for Collège Notre-Dame multi-sport athlete Sebastien Dugas-Ruest.

The 18-year-old senior, who is also a mainstay both with the Alouettes basketball and soccer teams, took out Brad Mackenzie of St. Charles College with relative ease in the SDSSAA men's singles final, defending the crown he captured in May 2014.

"I've played a lot this winter," said Dugas-Ruest. "I'm just more consistent and more confident. That's the key, really. I'm not scared to make mistakes. And I go to the net more often."

Like Dugas-Ruest, Mackenzie is a mainstay in most every sporting activity that the Cardinals can offer, picking up facets from at least one of his other pastimes in helping him reach a level of competency on the tennis courts.

"If I had to pick any sport, I would maybe say soccer, just because of the endurance," said Mackenzie. "On the tournament day, it's a really long day, there's a lot of games. Especially playing guys like Seb. He's got you running around the whole time, back and forth. It's really tiring."

While Dugas-Ruest is a familiar face at the Sudbury Indoor Tennis Centre, Mackenzie really doesn't usually pick up a racquet until the spring, when he meets his main rival on the outdoor courts at James Jerome.

"I play with my dad a lot," smiled Mackenzie. "He loves tennis, and he loves trying to beat me all the time." Finishing third in the men's singles competition was Joel Venne of Notre-Dame.

The championship banner by Dugas-Ruest was the second of the day for CND, as the women's doubles team of Justine Tubin and Mélisa Kingsley trumped the Bishop Carter Gators tandem of Bailey Laforest and Kaitlin Houben 8-3 in the finals.

"Last year was the first time I picked up a racquet," admitted Tubin. "I had a different partner. We played and finished fifth, I think. This year, my partner was injured and Mélisa joined me. It turned out pretty well."

With a background primarily in basketball and volleyball, Tubin and her talented hockey-playing partner focused on the basics heading into play on Tuesday.

"Just get the ball on the court," she laughed. "It doesn't matter how much strength you have, it doesn't matter how much speed - if you can't put the ball on the court, you're not going to win the game.”

Still, with a limited level of tennis experience comes limited long-term expectations.

"Winning NOSSA is an achievable goal for me and Mel, to make it to OFSAA," said Tubin.

"But once you get to OFSAA, we would just go in hoping to play the best tennis that we can, and if the teams are really good, well, so be it. We're not real tennis players."

Finishing third in women's doubles play was a second Notre-Dame entry, as Jamie Ricci and Joelle Bélanger combined to earn bronze. Play in the ladies singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles events go Thursday at the same venue.

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