It was a gorgeous day for tennis this week, and the Section 6 mixed teams made the most of it.
Ladder leader Wandana Heights had a 4-2 win over seventh-placed Waurn Ponds at home, to keep it five points clear of Newcomb.
Things were one-sided in the first mixed sets, with Jane Muhor and Paul Dean taking the first for Wandana 6-1, and Anna Tresidder and Darren McCallum countering for the Ponds, 6-1, in the second.
Wandana put itself in the lead with its strong doubles performances, taking the ladies’ 6-2 and the men’s 6-0.
The reverse mixed sets were again split, with Anna Cole and Paul Dean teaming up for Wandana to take the fifth set 6-0, while Clarissa Walker and Darren McCallum fought back for the Ponds taking their set 6-4.
Newcomb consolidated itself in second place with a 5-1 win over Grovedale, who dropped out of the four and back to fifth position.
While the final score looked lopsided, Newcomb was pushed in several sets, with two tie breaks going its way.
Newcomb started strong with Alison Steele and Justin Whitworth taking the first set 6-3, and Kacey Higgins and Marc Patrick the second 7-6.
The ladies’ set went to Grovedale’s Tina Thorburn and Carly Thomas 6-1, while Newcomb countered in the men’s taking it 6-2.
The reverse mixed sets both went to Newcomb, 7-6 and 6-3, giving it a good win, with the team no doubt happy to get over the line.
Aireys Inlet pulled itself from eighth to sixth this week, and are now only four points out of the top four, with a 4-2 win at home over third-placed Lara.
The first two mixed sets were split with Jacqui Arnott and Jason Stanley taking the first 6-3 for Aireys, and Lara’s Briane Doolan and Rob Dando taking the win 6-1 in the second.
The ladies’ and men’s sets both went the way of Aireys 6-2, 6-4 respectively, before Jason Stanley won his third set for the day with Ruby Markovic 6-2 to give Aireys an unassailable lead.
Lara didn’t let Aireys have things its own way in the last however, with Ashleigh Hughes and Rob Dando taking the set 6-4.
Anglesea pushed itself into the four with a 6-0 win over Clifton Springs away from home this week.
The Springs could only manage nine games, with all Anglesea combinations just too strong on the day.
