The action kicked off with a Friday night blockbuster in round 7 of the Southern Ports Tennis Association season.
The Kingston Crays were only just too good for the Robe Rebels, winning 13-11 in warm conditions.
Heading into Saturday, showers of rain made for some interesting matches.
Despite being undermanned, the Lucindale Koalas found a way to get the job done in Robe against the Roosters, while the Wombats had a tough ask against the Beachport Buccaneers.
The Pirates were too good for Penola’s Rangers, and despite their best efforts, the rain led to a draw at Apsley.
Kingston Crays 13-119 d Robe Rebels 11-125
The first Friday night game for the season between Kingston and Robe was off to a hot start and what a night it turned out to be between the two teams.
The mixed doubles saw both teams score three wins each with some good doubles rallies played in the games across the board.
Shaun Mules turned one on taking a win over Egan Regnier 6-3, a game full of solid baseline rallies and net play.
Will Edwards had a hard game and good win against Tim Malone further down the courts, taking that one home 7-5.
With the help of James Lehmann and Neville Hines, Kingston took home four out of the six men’s singles.
In the women’s singles Robe clawed it back to one set winning three out of the six games.
Kait Copping and Alana Domaschenz played an absolute epic game, AB coming out to help score the tiebreak and give them both some encouragement, Alana took that one home in the end.
By the time the doubles started in the evening there was a slight breeze helping everyone cool off a bit.
The Robe women continued their run in the doubles winning the lower two sets of the table.
Brother duo Egan and Jed combined well as always to take a win over Mules and Edwards 9-2.
Lehmann and Parker got one back taking a win over Calderwood and his partner which meant it was down to the last doubles of the night as to who would take home the win and did that put on a show.
Going to a tiebreak Edwards and Hines solidified the doubles win and the win for Kingston 7-5, Kingston worried they were going to be haunted again by a tiebreak doubles like last week against Lucindale.
Thankyou Robe for a great night, everyone who helped with the barbecue and braved the heat.
Three set winners for Robe was Barb Hensel, and for Kingston Stacey Lehmann, Will Edwards and Neville Hines.
Robe Roosters 11-115 d by Lucindale Koalas 13-119
The Koalas went into their match at Robe with a very different side due to a local wedding.
The tennis was not to be missed with this match going right down to the wire.
The Roosters got out of the blocks early taking four of the mixed doubles sets, an epic mixed match took place between the number threes with Roosters’ L Ling and T Bainger getting the win in a tiebreak over Koalas’ L McCarthy and P Stock.
Match of the day went to the top men with Koalas’ R Wilkin and B Green taking the win 10-8 after both losing their singles to Roosters’ P Obst and P Rains.
Koalas’ three set winners for the day where L Graetz and T Wilkin, and for the Roosters it was L Ling and J Campbell.
Beachport Buccaneers 20-144 d Lucindale Wombats 4-56
Beachport Buccaneers hosted an undermanned Lucindale Wombats side due to a local wedding.
The early conditions of slight rain made the conditions tricky for both teams, but it did not deter either team from enjoying a nice afternoon of tennis.
As the rain stopped, the breeze dried the courts out quickly and conditions were much nicer to play in.
Buccaneers were very convincing winners for the day, 20 sets to four.
Penola Rangers 7-101 d by Beachport Pirates 17-131
Penola hosted the Beachport Pirates on Saturday in some very muggy conditions at McCorquindale Park.
The day started with clear conditions for the mixed doubles, where Beachport managed to take away five wins from six matches.
Chris Holden and Anna Young managed to defeat Robbie Bateman and Alex Bateman in a convincing win 6-1.
In the singles, the Pirates extended their lead further winning a further four sets in the men’s and five sets in the women’s.
Allan Schulz proved too strong over Samuel McDougall with a score 6-0.
Michelle Coomans and Sally Bateman had a tight contest, with Sally eventually taking the win 7-5.
The balls were starting to deteriorate fast as the drizzly rain set in for the straight doubles.
It was evenly matched in the straight doubles with Penola taking three of the six sets.
Darcy Bateman and John Forster found their rhythm after a few weeks playing together in the top spot, defeating Tom Pearce and Cameron Bartrop 9-2.
Match of the day went to the top ladies where Caz McGrath and Liz Rymill defeated Allana Mueller and Tamara Sutherland 9-5.
There was yet another great spread of afternoon tea provided by Penola.
Frances/Lucindale Eagles vs Naracoorte – WASHOUT
Frances started the afternoon strong, winning all six mixed doubles.
Continuing into the singles, it became a slightly more even affair with wins going to Naracoorte’s top two ladies and bottom three men.
Though the Eagles were well on their way to a in, the rain set in, washing out the remainder of the sets and sealing the draw.
Round 8
The Friday night action continues in Kingston as the Crays take on the Robe Roosters.
Heading into Saturday, Beachport’s Pirates will host Naracoorte Aces, while Robe Rebels will host the Penola Rangers.
At Lucindale, both Lucindale teams will face one another, but all eyes will on the top of the table clash between Frances/Lucindale Eagles and Beachport Buccaneers.
This match could go either way, so watch out for those results next week.
Ladder Points
Frances/Lucindale Eagles, Beachport Buccaneers (13), Lucindale Koalas, Kingston Crays (8), Naracoorte (7), Beachport Pirates, Penola Rangers (6), Robe Rebels (4), Robe Roosters (3), Lucindale Wombats (2).
