In Round 3 of the Southern Posts Tennis Association, the sun finally made an appearance and the Lucindale Wombats claimed top spot on the ladder with another win on games over the Koalas.
The Robe Roosters have risen from the foot of the ladder after it defeated Penola, while Naracoorte’s women rediscovered their form to help their side claim a comfortable win.
NARACOORTE 14-133 d ROBE REBELS 10-111
The Robe Rebels made the journey across from the seaside and the home side took the early lead after it secured four mixed doubles wins.
Poppy Moyle-Read and Daniel Menzel had their first win against Jed Regnier and Kimberley Austin, 7-5.
Robe’s Andrew Brown and Hayley Agnew clenched a close win over Norbert Wende and Alix Mosey.
The women held Naracoorte’s lead in the singles after they won 6/6, while Robe regained ground with 5/6 in the men’s singles.
In a strong performance, Brown dropped just the one game on his way to victory for Robe.
The highlight of the day was the top men’s doubles clash with Robe’s Regnier and Jack Nunan clutching the win over Menzel and Jamie Bettoncelli 10-8.
The Moyle-Read family and Katelyn Baker were won all three sets for Naracoorte, while Robe’s standout performers were Brown and Mason Keane.
KINGSTON 15-132 d BEACHPORT 9-102
It was an ideal day for tennis at Kingston as the weather turned it on with no wind and plenty of sunshine.
Beachport struggled to fill a team with a few players out on both sides but they managed to grab a few players including Richard Martin and Jacob Mules from Kingston.
Kingston just got the edge in the mixed doubles with four wins but the women’s and men’s doubles were evenly matched.
An exciting contest took place between the number three and four women in a clash which had a number of rallies.
In the end, Lucy Corman and Maddie Redman had enough strength to claim a 10-8 win over Nicola Crane and Georgia Burns.
Jake Harris claimed a 6-4 win over Matt Menz in the number 1 clash for the men.
Bianca Cunneen, Neville Hines, Lou Leidig and Tim Parker all won three sets for Kingston, while Tim Loveday was the only one to win all three from Beachport.
LUCINDALE WOMBATS 12-128 d LUCINDALE KOALAS 12-120
In a battle between two of the Lucindale sides, the Wombats claimed a narrow victory over the Koalas.
The clash went right down to the wire after both sides won 12 sets and were only separated by eight games at the end of the day.
Trevor Smart, Tom Handbury, Sam Crocker, Eliza Handbury, Kiele Longbottom, Alex Klug and Bron Longbottom all claimed important singles wins.
ROBE ROOSTERS 15-130 d PENOLA 9-73
Both sides entered this clash in search of first win of the season.
Penola struggled to find men this weekend, so Robe’s number six, Harry Hooper, played at number four for Penola.
Robe controlled the mixed clashes to four out of six. The Roosters men kept the momentum going when it won all six clashes.
An exciting contest took place on centre court where Robe’s Tom emery claimed a 6-4 win over Jon Ey.
The match of the day in the women’s clashes was between Sam Matthews and Angela Lythgo.
There was very little to separate the pair as they traded blow for blow in a long-lasting encounter before Lythgo walked away with the win 7-4 win in the tiebreaker.
The Roosters won four of the last six doubles encounters to seal their first win of the season.
The three set winners for the Roosters were Egan Regnier, Paul Rains, Alex Clements and Leanne Cameron.
Caroline McGrath and Necia Evans were the two Penola players to win all three sets.
FRANCES/LUCINDALE EAGLES 17-140 d LUCINDALE COCKATOOS 7-102
The Frances/Lucindale side claimed a dominant victory over the Cockatoos with 10 sets the difference at the end of the day.
The Eagles had numerous players win all three sets but Tyler Atkinson’s efforts were a standout.
For the Cockatoos, Lachie Grundy and Peter Lawrie played magnificently and won three sets each.
Clare Garner took to the court for the first time in the competition and played some impressive tennis which kept Jane Haynes on her toes.
In Round 4, Penola will finally play its first home game when it hosts Naracoorte.
The match to watch will be at Kingston when it hosts the Lucindale Koalas.
Other matches on Saturday will be played at Lucindale, Robe and Beachport.
