James Murphy
FINALS fast approach for Mount Gambier and District Tennis, with just one minor round now remaining.
Saturday’s morning rain saw most of the junior fixtures abandoned on the weekend, but seniors went ahead mostly unhindered.
The Division 1 competition unfolded as expected, with the higher ranked sides securing the points for Round 15.
Uniting claimed its third win of the season with a 9-3 set triumph over wooden spooner Mount Schank, while ladder leader Glencoe bested Centrals/Uniting/Gambier 8-4.
Another 8-4 result came out of Olympic Park when West Gambier defeated Reidy Park.
That fixture saw most sets won comfortably, while a couple of closer matches could have tightened up the end result.
West won four of the six singles sets, with their closest margins 6-2 wins.
However, the number one men’s clash saw Reidy’s Zayne Young on top when he defeated George White 6-3, while Bailey Young also triumphed 6-2 over Ella Jolley for the women.
The doubles unfolded in a similar way, with four sets won by West to Reidy’s two.
The closest encounters came in Ethan Schultz’s doubles clashes against Henry Haywood.
The rubber 8 clash saw Schultz team up with White for a 7-5 win against the Haywood and Young pairing, while Schultz’s partnership with Brady Cook against Henry and Bryan Haywood produced a 6-4 victory.
All the remaining sets were won comfortably and despite a couple of good wins to the hosts, West secured the points to keep it sitting in second place on the ladder.
Over at Glencoe the home team hosted the combined Centrals/Uniting/Gambier side for a four-set win.
The singles matches were all one-sided with four sets falling Glencoe’s way, with two solid wins to the guests.
The top men’s singles saw Andrew van den Hurk defeat Glencoe’s Dylan Childs 6-1, while the women’s top clash was won by Glencoe’s Jorja Mitchell 6-1 over Alita Huyser.
The top men’s doubles also went the way of the combination team, as van den Hurk partnered with Mark Heemskerk for a 6-2 win over Childs and Patrick Mitchell.
Childs was not without a win on the day though and his combination with Bradley Mitchell saw the Glencoe duo account for van den Hurk and Ben Gaffney 6-4.
The Mitchell brothers also won their pairing for Glencoe, while for the women Jorja Mitchell and Sarah Edwards were too strong in the top rubber, with a 6-1 win against Huyser and Alison Telford.
Mitchell and Laura Childs also prevailed, 6-3, while Telford and Heidi Heemskerk secured the only doubles success for the visitors with a 6-4 win.
The final fixture for the round was played between the two teams out of finals contention.
Uniting hosted Mount Schank for the meeting, which saw a few tight games despite the eventual 9-3 result.
The top men’s singles was won by Uniting’s Kobe Cole 6-4 over Brendan McInnes, while a tiebreaker was required in the number-two match when Jace Maxwell narrowly edged out Will Boston.
Alex Laube chipped one back for Mount Schank when he accounted for Travis Crowe 6-4.
Another win for the guests came when Abbey Hood claimed a 6-2 win over Shae Delaney.
However, with Ashlea Dunn and Jade Delaney winning their sets 6-1 each, Uniting wrapped up the singles four sets to two.
Dunn and Jade Delaney were unable to back up their success in their doubles partnership, with Nell Eastough and Halle Collins too strong.
The Mount Schank duo won the set 6-3, but that was the only doubles win for the team.
Of the remaining sets, Dunn and Vanessa Maxwell’s 7-5 win over Eastough and Hood was the closest, while the others were won convincingly by the hosts.
The top four is already locked in for Division 1 leading into this week’s last minor round.
However, there remains room for movement inside the four, with plenty of intrigue ahead of the semi finals.
