LOCAL TENNIS with Donna Schoenmaekers
It was perfect autumn weather for Tuesday women’s preliminary final week and the teams enjoyed the competition as well as the sunshine.
Surfcoast Torquay travelled to Moriac in section 1 and was hoping to carry on its good form from last week.
Moriac proved tough competition, winning the first two sets 6-4 and 7-5. Torquay countered in the third and fourth set, winning them 6-3 and 7-5.
With the teams tied on sets and Torquay ahead by three games the match was poised for the taking. Liz Scott and Sharon Hannett traded game for game with Fiona Blood and Bronwyn Tasker to 3-2 lead before running away with the set for Torquay winning 6-2.
Liz Flower and Megan Williams started slowly against Bridget Laird and Charlotte Wilson with the Moriac pair taking a 4-1 lead. The Torquay pair faced a match point at 5-2 but managed to turn things around, coming out eventual winners 7-5, giving the win to Torquay four sets to two.
The result was even closer in Point Lonsdale, where the home team faced Grovedale. The teams were tied after two sets with both teams taking a set 6-4, then followed up with Lonny winning the third 7-5 and Grovedale the fourth 6-4.
Level on sets and games, the teams needed to steel their nerves to see who would come out on top. Samantha Bakker and Anne Hainsworth did just that, and won the fifth set for Lonny, 6-3.
On the other court, Val Wilson and Kellie Winton battled Bronwyn Attard and Tracy Bromilow, with the latter coming out eventual winners in a tie-break for Grovedale. The final result saw Lonny in front by a game difference of two.
Things were a little more one-sided in section 3 when Barwon Heads had a 5-1 win against Surf Coast Torquay Black, winning the first four sets to put the result beyond doubt.
Surfcoast Torquay Black fared better than its section 3 counterparts in section 4 posting a 6-0 win over Highton. The team were on fire, restricting their opposition to just six games.
Section 5 was expected to be a close affair with Western Heights Uniting and Grovedale playing their third encounter, with the teams each having a close win.
Wendy Bell and Carmel Addlem had a tough fought win for the Heights 7-5 in the first set, while Jinara Schmidt and Jenny Finch helped the scoreboard posting a 6-0 win in the second for Grovedale. The Heights won the third and fourth sets 6-4 putting them up three sets to one and level on games.
Wendy Bell and Karen Barlett put the result beyond doubt winning the fifth 6-2, giving Bell her third set for the day, while Finch and Tina Thorburn took the last for Grovedale 6-3.
Grovedale’s bad day continued when their section 6 Yellow team went down to Moolap, in an unexpected result, with Grovedale having posted two 6-0 wins through the season.
The match was tight with two of the first four sets going to Grovedale in tie-breaks, but Moolap managed the other two 6-4 and 6-3 giving them a 1 game lead going into the final two sets. Moolap dug in with Kirsty Matthews and Sheree Holdsworth winning the fifth set 6-2 and Belinda Atkins and Denise Black the sixth 6-4, resulting in the seemingly unexpected win.
For section 7 it was semi finals, due to the six-team draw. Minor premiers Wandana Heights gave themselves a 3-1 lead before splitting the final two sets with Moolap to book their place in next week’s final.
Wandana will face Point Lonsdale after it won the first five sets of the day against Anglesea, with Donna Drury and Pauline Treloar leading the way winning their three sets.
