It was touch and go whether Monday’s Women’s night final would go ahead with the temperature reaching 40 degrees through the day, however, by start time the conditions had improved and play was able to commence on time.
In Section 1, minor premiers Grape Therapy faced Rust-eze, and for the first time in their four meetings, both teams were their standard line up.
Therapy had taken the honours in all three home and away matches, but every match had been a battle, with Rust-eze a little unlucky in round four only going down by four games.
The first set saw Therapy’s Jo Puckett and Fiona Walker battle it out with Mel McClelland and Andrea Eccleston in a set punctuated with big forehands from McClelland, crisp volleys from Walker, amazing angles from Eccleston and great reading of the play from Puckett. Rallies were plentiful and games were long and the 8-1 win to Grape Therapy belied the quality of the set.
The second set was a lot closer on the scoreboard than the first with Di Williams and Donna Schoenmaekers taking on Rust-eze’s Denise Airey and Narelle Thompson. The set went game for game with powerful serving from Thompson, strong returning by Williams, great placement by Airey and cross court setups from Schoenmaekers. At five-all Rust-eze got the break and from there held serve to take the match 8-6.
With the match tied at a set all, match ups were important going into the remaining two sets. Walker and Schoenmaekers matched it early with Eccleston and Thompson, but their prowess as a pair showed through with Rust-eze taking the fourth set 8-3. It was left to Puckett and Williams and McClelland and Airey to determine the winner and at 5-4 with a break to Grape Therapy at the completion of the fourth set, the match was poised to be a thriller.
Puckett and McClelland continued with their lengthy rallies, but Therapy eventually got over the line 8-5, leaving the teams level at two sets all, but Therapy had the three-game advantage.
Section 2 proved a little more one sided with Western Heights facing Moolap Monarch’s. Monarch’s were hoping to match Two Phones Chol and Zing Kings wins in last Thursday’s Triples finals while the Warriors were looking for their first premiership after finishing runner-up three times.
Jenny Hurst and Joanna Harriott kicked off against Kirsty Matthews and Sheree Holdsworth in the first with a strong 8-1 win for the Warriors while Carmel Addlem and Debra Brackley also did well winning 8-2 against Monica Cavarson and Belinda Atkins.
With the team in the box seat, spirits were high, and Hurst and Addlem continued the strong form winning 8-1 while Holdsworth and Atkins battled to take the fourth set 8-6. Fourth time was the charm for the Warriors winning 3-1.
After a fantastic night of tennis, the teams relaxed with a drink after the match with food supplied by the players, with a big thanks to Highton’s Leanne Shelton for the effort she put in for the night and across the season
