Play was cancelled for Saturday and Monday night tennis and showers continued into early Tuesday morning, but the skies cleared long enough for most Tuesday Women’s matches to get completed before the skies opened again.
It was Round 14, the final week of home and away matches for Sections 1 and 3, and with teams set in position, they will be hoping for better conditions next week.
Section 4 managed to get two of the three matches completed while one may decide who takes fourth spot, but of course this is dependent on next week’s matches.
Western Heights Uniting were supposed to travel to Drysdale for their matchup, but the courts were unplayable. Rather than go home, however, the teams met at Western Heights to complete their match. Drysdale, despite being away, started well winning the first two sets before the Heights took the third, then Drysdale the fourth.
The fifth went to a tie-break with Wendy Bell and Carmel Addlem getting up in a tie-break for the Heights, but Drysdale, spearheaded by Mandy McManus winning her third set for the day with Deborah Peacock 6-2, sealed the win, to keep themselves in first, but only 2.5 points ahead of Teesdale.
Teesdale hosted third placed Highton, and with only four points between them, expectations were high for a great match. Teesdale shot out of the blocks in the first two sets with Jen Schefferle and Lynette Wood winning 6-2, while Annette Connor and Jenny Fiolet got up 6-3. The third set was a marathon, despite the scoreline, with Schefferle and Connor winning 6-2 while Foilet and Wood fought hard and matched point for point with Lia Neale and Maree Biscan, before getting over the line in a tie-break.
The fifth was a 6-2 win to Schefferle and Foilet while in the last, Highton just couldn’t quite get there with Wood and Connors getting up in another tie-break for Teesdale. In the end it was a 6-0 win to Teesdale, but with a potential rematch in the semi-finals looming, Highton could be out for revenge and the scores could be different.
The final match at Surfcoast Bellbrae didn’t reach completion, which may have implications for both Surfcoast and Clifton Springs next week. Clifton Springs in fifth were 4.5 points behind fourth placed Surfcoast at the start of the day and both teams were playing for finals contention.
Previous matches were close with the Springs winning on games in round 4, and Surfcoast with a 4-2 win in round 9, both away from home, so this result was hard to predict. Clifton Springs came out hard, and played themselves to an early lead, winning the first three sets 6-2, putting them in the box seat for the day and for a potential change in ladder position, but Nyree Baker and Jacqui Arnott got Surfcoast on the board with a 6-4 win.
Vicky Winship and Pam Rathbone went out all guns blazing in the sixth set winning 6-0, and Rathbone secured her third win for the day, while on the other court Sarka Vajbar and Sarah Winship were locked at four-all with Arnott and Rhonda Sprigg when the skies opened and stopped play. The match was left incomplete at 4-1 to the Springs, but with an overall win, they moved ahead of Surfcoast by just half a point.
Next week Clifton Springs will face Teesdale (2nd), while Surfcoast will meet Western Heights (6th), so hopefully the incomplete set doesn’t come back to bite either team.
