LOCAL TENNIS with Tyler Krumholz
The Tennis Geelong Triples Night competition is just over halfway through the Winter season, with teams starting to look towards finals.
In Section 3, all teams are looking up at the first-place Moolap Goats, who faced off at home against third-placed Highton Three of a Kind on Thursday August 1.
On a chilly winter evening on the Moolap hard courts, Three of a Kind had a strong start, with Corey Hird and Allen Nicdao taking the top doubles spot 6-2 against young Fletcher Allen and Mick Kotwic.
Moolap club president Matt Pettigrew steadied the ship for the Goats at number 3 singles, winning 6-3 over Guillermo Andy.
Pettigrew, playing in his first match of the season in round 6, kept the Goats momentum going while teaming up with Allen at number 2 doubles, taking the set 6-4 over Hird and Andy.
Kotwic had his strongest singles result of the season on an adjacent court with a 6-1 win over Nicdao.
Taking a six-game lead into the last two sets, the Goats didn’t let up, as Pettigrew and Kotwic outfoxed Andy and Nicdao 6-4. The matchup of the night pitted undefeated Hird against Allen at number 1 singles. In round one, Hird had won a tiebreaker, but Allen was ready for payback this time around. Despite the five-degree temperature, he shed his long sleeves in favour of
a sleeveless footy jumper for the final set and battled through to get his own 6-5 tiebreaker triumph to seal the 5-1 win for the Goats.
Elsewhere in Section 3, second place Winks Wizards hosted fourth place All Saints at Geelong Lawn. All Saints brought in superstar sub Rebecca Lee for the match, filling in at number 2 behind Steph Golightly. The veteran top doubles combo of Rohan White and Brett Salajan took the first set against Lee and Golightly in a tiebreaker, but Lee and Golightly dominated their respective singles sets, only dropping two games combined.
With the two ladies each winning their doubles sets partnering with Lachlan Bough, All Saints struck the 4-2 upset over the Wizards to go into third place.
All Saints Newtown were home against equal-fifth place Grovedale Four Posts in the final matchup of the round. Jonathan Peck, a long-time Four Posts player filling in for the week, won the contest of the night at number 1 singles 6-5 over James Dat, but it wasn’t enough, as Newtown’s depth propelled them to a 4-2 win.
