St Michael’s remain undefeated after a close win in the pennant grand-final rematch against Drung South in the Central Wimmera Tennis Association on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The match was the Saints toughest challenge yet, but through a late flourish in the final round of doubles matches, they were able to come away with victory 7-87 to 7-73.
Ian Nitschke was crucial for the Saints, winning all three of his sets 8-0, 8-1, 8-3, for a collective games margin of 21.
Nitschke said it was pleasing to get the victory, but that the match-up could’ve gone either way.
“It was certainly a close game. I think we were a little bit lucky to get across the line,” he said.“We probably didn’t play well enough to really towards the start of the day but came home okay.”
St Michael’s trailed on sets 6-4 before the final four doubles matches of the day, with Dylan Emmerton, Sandra Casey and Georgia McLennan playing great tennis for Drung South.
But the Saints stormed home to pull off the come-from-behind victory.
“We knew going into the last round of doubles we had to win three or four, and we just managed to get across the line,” Nitschke said.
“We did what we needed to do across the day. Nobody really stood out, we just did what we needed to do.”
The two evenly matched teams have a rivalry brewing, consistently playing in close games against each other.
This was the closest any team has come to knocking off the ladder leaders this season, but despite the great start, Nitschke admitted teams and match-ups could look very different by finals time.
“I think three of the last four have been really close, but we’ve both got pretty different teams, it changes around a fair bit,” Nitschke said. “I don’t think either team were at their strongest on the weekend, so it can all change a lot.
“We’re feeling pretty good about the season, but you never really know.”
Horsham Lawn bounced-back after two straight losses to defeat Kalkee 9-95 to 7-75 and hurdle back into second place on the ladder.
Winning three out of four singles ties set-up the victory for Lawn, with Graeme Wood, Cherie Wood and Bridie Freehan playing some great tennis.
Haven secured their second win of the year, defeating Telangatuk East 9-97 to 5-82 away from home. The match-up looked evenly poised before Haven won the last five sets of the day to runaway with victory.
