The sun was shining and only a breath of wind for round 2 of Women’s Midweek and players made the most of it, although Section 1 Barwon Heads will have to see what next week brings due to a bye.
Geelong West have re-entered the Tuesday competition, with a team transitioning from Highton after a hiatus, and are currently sitting top of the ladder – in part due to receiving a forfeit last week, but also a good win over Grovedale this week.
Angela Sherlock, Jacqui McGrath, Jodie McConnell and Annette Morgan showed that the break had not hindered them, winning the first four sets before Grovedale’s Belinda Lee and Tracy Bromilow got the opposition on the board. Geelong West eventual winners five sets to one.
Ocean Grove had a loss to summer premiers Surfcoast Green last week but hit back against Surfcoast Black this week, with a 4-2 win at home. Black are new to Section 1 after promotion due to their win in Summer Section 2.
The teams were super competitive with Judi Broad and Kate Lockhart having a slow start but eventual winners 7-5 for the home team while Amrita Smith and Olivia Cottrill proved too strong in the second set for Surfcoast, winning 6-3. Smith and Maree Kullenberg battled with Broad and Alison Lugg before getting over the line 7-5 in a tie-break while on the other court, Ocean Grove kept things on the level with Lockhart and Mel Keating winning 6-3.
While the final result was four sets to two, the final two sets were decided in tie-breaks, both to the home team, with the practiced combinations of Lockhart and Lugg, and Keating and Broad doing enough to get over the line, and by just three games.
The final match of the day was a meeting from last season’s grand final with Moriac hosting Surfcoast Green. These teams have a long history of close matches and Tuesday was no exception.
Colleen Battye and Megan Williams drew first blood for Surfcoast winning 6-1 while Bridget Laird and Fiona Blood played a marathon against Kristie Walters and Jayne Steel with the former winners in a tie-break. Walters partnered Lyn Dillon to take the third set 6-2 for Surfcoast, but Blood and Charlotte Wilson levelled the match with a 6-4 win for Moriac.
With a six-game buffer, Surfcoast were hopeful going into the final two sets and the difference proved valuable. Blood won her third set for the day with Kerrie Fatone (6-3) leaving Moriac needing to win the final set 6-2 to take the win, but Walters and Battye had other ideas with the long-standing partners winning 6-2 to give Surfcoast victory by seven games with the sets tied at three-all.
With a few new faces and a new club in play, the tennis in this section will be entertaining and no doubt a few seemingly surprising results should be expected.
