HORSHAM Lawn Purple won the Central Wimmera Tennis Association 14 and under A Grade girls match of the round against Haven Blue at the weekend.
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With Haven Blue and Lawn Purple sitting third and fifth respectively at the start of the round, both had plenty to play for.
Horsham Lawn Purple struck the early advantage by winning the opening two doubles rubbers in 6-5 tie-breaks.
Lawn Purple pair Lily Martin and Bianca Drum narrowly beat Haven Blue’s Tamika Baker and Tashana Meyer.
Emily Hannan and Katelyn Gebert followed it up with another nail-biting rubber victory over Haven’s Tahlia Hopper and Bridget Drum.
Haven struck back at the start of the singles section, with Baker downing Lawn Purple’s Drum, while Meyer won another 6-5 tie-break against Martin.
The teams split the final two doubles rubbers, leaving set scores tied at three apiece and Lawn Purple with a slender 30-28 advantage on games.
There was yet another 6-5 thriller in the final doubles rubbers going the way of Haven Blue’s Meyer and Drum, but Lawn Purple Drum’s teamed up with Hannan to win the other rubber 6-2 and seal a 4-41 to 4-36 victory.
The win moved Lawn Purple ahead of Central Park and into fourth place on the ladder, while Haven Blue remains in third position.
Other matches in the division saw easy eight-sets-to-zero victories for ladder leader Quantong over Horsham Lawn Pink and Haven Red over Central Park.
Interestingly, only one other junior match finished with set scores tied.
In 12 and under A Grade boys action, Central Park beat Haven Blue 3-31 to 3-26.
Jacob Butcher-Weidermann and Charles Schache started off nicely for Haven Blue with a 6-5 win over Parker pair Jake Adams and Cody Helyar.
Central Park came back strongly to win the next three sets, which included another 6-5 result.
Haven Blue needed to win the final two sets to have a chance and it did through a combination of Schache and Kaden Driller beating Central Park’s Helyar and Zac Dufty.
Butcher-Weidermann and Bailey Driller also won the final rubber but despite tying the set scores, Haven Blue still lost on games.
Third-placed Parkers now have some breathing room from fourth-placed Haven Blue.
Second-placed Laharum easily accounted for bottom team Horsham Lawn in the division’s other match.
In the 17 and under A Grade boys competition, Horsham Lawn Black beat struggling Central Park six sets to two, while Haven forfeited to Horsham Lawn Yellow.
Central Park Orange had a massive win over Central Park Gold in the 17 and under A Grade girls division.
Other wins went to Central Park Pink over Central Park Purple and Horsham Lawn against Haven.
In 14 and under A Grade boys action, Central Park Orange, Horsham Lawn Green and Quantong had wins.