This weekend the Mount Gambier and District 2024/25 Tennis Association’s season kicked off with some great weather as well as plenty of competitive matches across the region.
Division 1
West Gambier v Reidy Park
West Gambier and Reidy Park faced off to begin the season on Saturday at West Gambier.
In the men’s side of the draw Reidy dominated in the doubles with Zayne Young and Dane Heemskerk taking on West’s Brady Cook and Shaunn Robinson in the top doubles.
Cook and Robinson put up a good fight in the opening set, but were not good enough to claim first blood as the Reidy boys took the first set 6-3.
Young and Heemskerk continued their momentum in the second set, picking up the victory with a 6-0 win.
In the bottom doubles Reidy’s Ben Gaffney and Will Cameron faced West’s Toby Stutley and Peyton Robinson.
Gaffney and Cameron took hold of the match with a 6-2 victory in the opening set.
However, Stutley and Robinson bounced back in the second set, putting up more of a fight.
But they were not strong enough as Reidy picked up their second doubles win with a 6-4 victory in the second set.
In the singles it was a much more competitive contest with both sides taking two sets each.
In the top singles Cook came away with the win over Young in a tough 6-4 victory, while Heemskerk secured another set with a 6-2 win over Robinson.
In the bottom singles Gaffney took care of business against Stutley with a 6-2 win while Robinson came out on top with a 6-2 victory over Cameron.
Over on the ladies side West got the edge over Reidy, claiming two of the three sets in the doubles.
In the top doubles, West’s Emily and Ella Jolley faced Reidy’s Bailey Young and Maggie Collins.
Young and Collins took it to the Jolley sisters, picking up the set in a 6-3 victory.
Down the line Emily Jolley and Joanne Sealey took on Young and Sarah Brown.
Jolley and Sealey got one back for West, taking the match in a 6-3 win.
In the bottom doubles Ella Jolley and Sealey faced Collins and Brown.
The West ladies were too strong for Collins and Brown as they only picked up the one game and overall fell to Jolley and Sealey 6-1.
In the singles West dominated, claiming the win in all three matches.
The top singles was the most competitive one as Emily Jolley played Bailey Young, with Jolley taking the set in a thrilling 6-4 win.
In the other two singles Ella Jolley and Joanne Sealey were just too good for Maggie Collins and Sarah Brown, as they both fell 6-0.
West Gambier finished the day on top, defeating Reidy Park seven sets to five.
Glencoe v Uniting
Uniting headed down to Glencoe on Saturday, with the reigning premiers picking up where they left off with a solid round one win.
In the men’s doubles it was evenly split with Glencoe and Uniting both getting a win.
In the top doubles Glencoe’s Dylan Childs and Patrick Mitchell took on Uniting’s Andrew Van den Hurk and Kobe Cole.
The Glencoe boys started slow in the match, losing the first set 6-4 but responded well in the second set with a 6-1 win.
With it tied up it came down to a super tiebreaker, both sides battled hard but Childs and Mitchell were too strong as they took the set and the match in an 11-9 victory.
In the bottom doubles, Uniting’s Mat Stark and Jace Maxwell were too good for Glencoe’s James Braun and Will Maloney as they took the match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.
In the singles, Glencoe’s top men continued their momentum as Childs faced Van den Hurk.
This match came down to the wire with Childs victorious and claiming the set in a tiebreaker.
In the other match Mitchell was too strong for Cole as he picked up the set in a 6-0 victory.
In the bottom end of the draw it was Uniting who took both sets with Stark picking up a 6-0 win over Bruan and Maxwell getting the job done with a 6-3 win over Maloney.
In the ladies doubles Glencoe’s Sarah Edwards and Giaan Ferguson faced Uniting’s Tessa Megaw and Vanessa Maxwell.
Megaw and Maxwell came away with the win, defeating Edwards and Ferguson 6-2.
Glencoe were able to get one set in the doubles, with Edwards and Shae Delaney getting the win over Megaw and Zarah Thami 6-1.
In the bottom doubles Maxwell and Thami were able to take the set over Ferguson and Delaney with a solid 6-3 win.
In the singles Uniting got the edge over Glencoe with two wins to one.
In the top singles Megaw came away with a tough win over Edwards, taking the set 6-4, white Maxwell finished the day undefeated with a 6-3 win over Ferguson.
In the bottom singles Delaney was the only lady to get a singles set for Glencoe, defeating Thami 6-2.
Despite the back and forth play the reigning premiers came out on top in Glencoe, winning seven sets to five.
Division 2
In the Division 2 competition Mount Gambier took on West Gambier Red at Mount Gambier, while Suttontown/Glencoe faced West Gambier Blue in Suttontown.
Mount Gambier began their season on a high with a big 11-1 win over West Red.
In Suttontown the home side got the win over West Blue defeating them 8-4.
Division 3
In Division 3 Uniting/Mount Schank faced Uniting at Olympic Park while Mount Gambier faced Suttontown at Mount Gambier.
Uniting/Mount Schank came away with the round one win, defeating Uniting 11-1.
The Gambier and Suttontown match was much more competitive as both sides finished on six sets with Mount Gambier edging the win with 60 games to Suttontown’s 52.
Mixed doubles
In the mixed doubles Uniting/Glencoe took on Mount Schank with Uniting/Glencoe getting the win 4-2.
Moorak Green played Mount Gambier Blue with Gambier coming away with the close win, beating Moorak on games 26-22.
Down at Glencoe they faced Suttontown and came out on top 5-1.
Mount Gambier Green took the courts against Moorak Gray with Gambier Green taking care of business and getting the win 6-0.
Ladies doubles
In the ladies doubles Glencoe got the win over Reidy Park after a Reidy forfeit.
Mil Lel White took on Mil Lel Green with the White side snaring the bragging rights with a 6-0 victory.
Down at Mount Schank West Gambier came out on top, defeating Mount Schank 5-1.
