WITH the Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association season into its pointy end, the struggle for a place in finals has intensified across most grades.
In the women’s doubles division, Saints United has continued to show dominance, with the ladder leader claiming its 11th win for the season over Glencoe Gold on Saturday.
Allendale East has also maintained its position on the ladder with a narrow win over Moorak, seeing it hold onto second place from Reidy Park, which had the bye for the round.
The tussle for fourth place continued this round, with Glencoe Maroon taking back the valued position from Uniting Church, after it claimed a four-set win over the side.
The final match-up of the round saw Mil Lel give up only a single game in its convincing triumph over West Gambier.
Round 14’s closest meeting saw Moorak and Allendale East go head-to-head at Olympic Park, with the latter securing the win by just two games.
Winning three sets each, in the end it was Allendale East which crept across the line, with its most convincing wins coming from Brittany Stark’s pairings with Joanne Jones and Ann-Marie Convery.
Both of these matches saw a 6-2 result in favour of the victors, while the team’s third win saw Convery and Jones with a 6-3 triumph over Louise Paltridge and Sam Saffin.
For Saints United it was an easier affair on Saturday, as it defeated Glencoe Gold five sets to one.
The only win for Glencoe saw Cassie Edwards and Philippa Richards claim a 6-2 victory over Debbie Rutkowski and Tasja Barelds.
The closest games for the day were the remaining matches between Rutkowski and Edwards, with the former winning both encounters 6-4 alongside Maureen Scanlon and Rhondda Truscott.
Glencoe Maroon also reaped rewards when it hosted Uniting Church for a 5-1 victory.
Glencoe’s Kate Amoroso had some close encounters in two of her matches, as her pairings with Janine Amoroso and Naomi Mitchell both resulted in 7-6 wins.
Despite some other close results, Uniting Church’s only win came from Frances Quirk and Vivienne Wilson when they claimed a 6-3 win over Teresa Anderson and Mitchell.
Mil Lel’s women had an easy day on the courts when they welcomed bottom-placed West Gambier to their home venue.
With a total of five 6-0 games, the only game West was able to win was in Jodie Johnston and Michele Van Niekerk’s 1-6 defeat to Mil Lel’s Diana Cross and Fiona Harten.
This weekend will see teams contest Round 15 of the season and the upcoming finals will be weighing on the minds of those resting on the borderline of making the cut.
