It was semi-final week for Tennis Geelong Junior Pennant Girls sections and all results went with ladder positions.
Geelong Lawn dominated Surfcoast Torquay dropping only six games in the four singles sets before taking the match 6-0, while Beachside won both doubles after splitting the singles, finishing ahead 4-2.
Section 2 minor premiers Western Heights Uniting will face Drysdale after accounting for Geelong Lawn White.
Ladder leaders Western Heights Uniting and Surfcoast Jan Juc will play for the Section 3 premiership after Uniting took a 5-1 win over Hamlyn Park and Juc scraped over the line to win by one game.
Section 5 was almost a mirror of Section 3 with St Mary’s taking a 5-1 over Surfcoast Torquay, but Waurn Ponds had a nine-game advantage over Drysdale in their match which tied three sets all.
In the Section 4 preliminary final, Ocean Grove will face Drysdale after a 4-2 win over Highton.
It was also semi-final week for Green Ball sections with only one real upset when Drysdale defeated Highton in the second semi in Section 1. Highton had both home and away wins between the teams, but with three good wins in the singles Drysdale had a three-game advantage at the end when the teams tied on sets. Geelong Lawn won the first semi 5-1 win over Surfcoast Jan Juc.
Geelong Lawn and Surfcoast Bellbrae will face off in the Section 3 grand final after posting 4-2 wins over Grovedale and All Saints, and Geelong Lawn White and Green will play off after 6-0 and 5-1 wins over Barwon Heads and Clifton Springs in Section 2. Geelong Lawn will feature in all Green Ball finals next week, with Section 4 finishing on top.
There were three upsets in the Boys Sections with Section 1 minor premiers Geelong Lawn going down to Grovedale, Wandana Heights defeating Highton White in Section 6 and All Saints came through in Section 7 against Grovedale.
Clifton Springs and Geelong Lawn White posted convincing 6-0 wins in Sections 2 and 9 over Wandana Heights and All Saints, Geelong Lawn had a strong win in Section 8, while Grovedale Yellow, Lara and Geelong Lawn in Sections 3 will have a rematch of the first semi from last week.
The sun was out for preliminary finals day in Senior Pennant and it was an even day all round for the four Mixed sections.
Newcomb had the best win in Section 2. Coming from third, Newcomb started well taking the first two mixed sets and this kept its nose in front with the doubles and reverse mix being split. Waurn Ponds was the only team making the most of a second chance in Section 1 against Grovedale.
The Ponds finished three games ahead with the match tied at three sets all. Wandana Heights Blue came from fourth to upset Drysdale in Section 4 and Newcomb managed to hold on in Section 3 after having a 3-1 lead going into the reverse mix, but with Clifton Springs winning both reverse mixed and tying the match on sets, Newcomb remained ahead by one game at the end.
The Open sections were more predictable with all favourites winning.
Surfcoast Torquay had a great day in singles with Michael Hili and John Stephenson dropping only two games for the two rubbers, setting them up for victory and a rematch with Wandana Heights White.
Minor premiers Moolap Black won the first singles and doubles, before taking the second doubles to go into the grand final with club rivals Yellow, and Lara took a clean sweep against Surfcoast Torquay in Section 4 to earn another crack at All Saints.
Section 1 Men saw Bannockburn end Grovedale’s hopes coming from fourth to take a 5-1 win. The teams each won one of the first two sets but from there Banno took charge and earned their chance to face Newcomb next week. Western Heights Uniting won a nailbiter against Highton in Section 2.
The teams were level on sets and games going into the final two sets but with a 6-1 win offsetting a 7-5 loss, Uniting will now face Ocean Grove Blue in the final. Clifton Springs was the final team to make it through in Section 3 with a win over Hamlyn Park. The Springs went ahead three sets to one going into the final two, before Dante Nicholls and Andrew Vlahovic took the sixth.
