It was beautiful weather for tennis as Tuesday Midweek kicked off this week, although the wind did pick up later in the day to make things a little tricky.
It was round 11 with three matches remaining after this week before finals, all teams are trying to build momentum to take them into the finals in May.
Of all the sections, the jostling for spots in the top four couldn’t be greater than Section 3 where at the start of the day, only five points separated Surfcoast Torquay Black from Mount Moriac in third and then only another five points to Ocean Grove in seventh.
Surfcoast Torquay Yellow are comfortable ladder leaders, having only dropped four sets leading into the match, but third placed Mount Moriac just about had their measure.
Torquay took the three of the first four sets, before the Mount rallied in the final two sets to win 7-6, 6-4, leaving the teams level at three sets all, but Torquay managed to hold them out by five games.
Surfcoast Torquay Black also had a close one when they travelled to play sixth placed Barwon Heads. The Heads started well taking the first two sets, before Torquay levelled at two sets all, and only one game between them. The teams shared the final two sets, with Torquay finishing with a two-game lead.
Highton closed the gap on the four moving from sixth to fifth with a 5-1 win over Surfcoast Bellbrae and just one point out of the four. The teams split the first two sets, but from there Highton kicked into high gear, taking charge of the match, with Jacqui Duxson and Jules Gower winning their three sets for the morning.
The final match saw Clifton Springs host Ocean Grove with the outcome in doubt until the final points. The teams were level on sets but the Springs were one game ahead with two sets to play. Competition was fierce in the final two sets. The Springs’ Kristine Mortimer and Belinda Garwood took the fifth set in a tie-break before Julie Bolton teamed with Debbie McLennan to win the sixth set, also in a tie-break, giving McLennan her third win for the day, and the Springs a 4-2 by just three games, and level on points with Mount Moriac in third.
