TENNIS Round 12 Winter Tennis Report WITH heavy overnight rain around Mansfield players were uncertain about whether their matches would go ahead last Monday. The women waited for the misty rain to pass before stepping onto the wet courts taking spare balls with them. Delatite hosted Wappan with Karyn Fraser returning from overseas to join Jo O’Brien, Deb McCormack, Deb Mims and Pat Howard. Wappan’s Jenny Bell, Rhonda Carpenter, Kimberley Marsden and Di Bergelin began well winning both openers. Jenny found the heavy balls to her liking and served powerfully, dominated at net, and landed her baseline groundstrokes deep. The wet balls were replaced after the first sets, the sun came out and Wappan surged ahead in the second pairings. In the final pairs, Delatite’s Jo O’Brien and partner Pat Howard, now warmed up and moving freely, put on a masterclass of tennis, serving strongly and placing balls with precision to take their set 8-1 not allowing Wappan to have it all their own way. Wappan 5 - 41 defeated Delatite 1 - 21 and moved into fifth spot on the ladder. Mansfield hosted Benalla and played the longest match of the day with both teams giving their all in a high-quality match. Mansfield’s Peta Kelly, Keira McDonagh, Sophie Yencken and Clare Beecham brought their A game to the contest with sharp net play and hard-hitting rallies. Benalla’s Kate Campbell, Claire Sharp, Maureen Jewell and Mary Kelly, kindly traveling over from Moglonemby, were not backing down though, unlucky to lose a tiebreaker, and came off the court well after the other match had finished. Mansfield 4-44 defeated Benalla 2-33 and both teams held their ladder positions in the top four. Euroa began strongly winning the first three sets against Seven Creeks. Euroa’s Lyndall Bigland, Julie Harrington, Di Ellis and Mary Dewis edged out their opponents in lengthy tough battles. Euroa were pleased to have two of their players complete three sets for the first time this season. Seven Creeks Rowena Ellis, Kelly Hill, Julie Brook and Genevieve Calvert warmed to contest and made a mighty comeback to win the last three sets including one in a tiebreaker. When the final scores were checked Seven Creeks 3-39 had drawn with Euroa 3-39. Creighton’s Creek were up against Terip and were grateful to Euroa’s Lyn Pierce stepping in to replace an injured player for the final set. Terip’s Cindy Hayes, Bec Lyttle, Frances Lawrence and Phoebe McDermid enjoyed some fine hitting against Creighton’s Creek’s Sue Vaughan, Gayle Furphy, Ros Doxey and Erica Mercer but defeated them 6-48 to Creighton’s Creek 0-8. After Round 12 the ladder has Terip on 83, Benalla 70, Euroa 69, Mansfield 63, Wappan 57, Creighton’s Creek 49, Seven Creeks 48, Moglonemby 36 and Delatite 5.
