Mounties Badminton Wins Season Opener

Mount Allison secured the first tournament of the ACAA season at Université Sainte-Anne. After a highly successful season in 2024-2025, where the Mounties were ranked 2nd in the country and looked to continue their winning ways and secure their national ranking for the upcoming season.

After the win, Mount Allison earns the 3rd place spot in the CCAA national rankings and aims to have another undefeated season, last achieved in 2023-2024.

In Church Point (USTA), the Mounties were backed by many amazing individual performances from both veterans and rookies, setting the tone for the season.

In Men's Singles, after a strong performance at last year's National Championships, #1 seed Wilson Paluch cruised to the semi-final, where he would meet Mountie rookie Noah MacIssac. The two battled it out in a 3-set thriller, with MacIssac taking the win and earning a spot in the finals. In the finals, MacIssac would face Vaibhav Bhatta from the UNBSJ Seawolves, the former national Silver (2024) and Bronze (2025) medalist. The experienced Seawolf won in two sets, securing second place for the Mounties.

In Women's Singles, former Rookie of the Year Azaniah Gepiga fought hard to get to the semi-final, where she would face Rachel Gilles from the UKC Blue Devils. Gepiga, the Moncton Badminton Club Alumni, would face one of her provincial rivals from the Saint John Badminton Club. In a long two-set game, Gepiga fell just short and secured a 3rd place finish for the Mounties.

The Men's Doubles draw was dominant for the Mounties. Veteran and former MVP Mike Ta and rookie David Kim moved quickly through the draw to the finals, where they would face Ta's close friend Bhatta and his partner, Carter McCarthy. In a great game, the power from the lefty rookie Kim and the technical skill and experience from Ta put the Mounties on top.

Mike Ta's dominance would continue, as he and Tallulah MacNeil would make their way to the final of the Mixed Doubles draw, where they would face Mikel Cote and Caitlin McCavour of the Dalhousie Rams. Ta's skill and speed, combined with MacNeil's focus and consistency, proved to be too much for the Rams as the duo won the mixed doubles draw in two sets.

Finally, on the Women's Doubles side, MacNeil would partner with Brenell Enman. The veteran duo went to the semi-final, where they faced the #1-seeded UNBSJ Seawolves, who proved to be too much, falling short after 2 sets.

The Mounties will look to continue their winning ways at UKC in Halifax November 22nd-23rd.

Recap courtesy of Mounties Athletics