SARNIA Tennis Club had some hard fought wins and close losses across the senior and junior Sunraysia District Tennis Association competition last week.
Division 1 Sarnia Sloggers kept their second place intact with a tight win over Sacred Heart Guns.
Sarnia’s Joel Hamilton got the ball rolling with an 8-2 singles win over youngster Tague Morris with Hamilton’s experience and all-court game proved too much for Morris to handle.
Brianna Bagnall soon levelled the scores beating veteran Brenda Hornsby in one of her rare singles appearances these days.
Bagnall played an attacking game with few errors, capitalising on her older opponent’s diminished court coverage.
Both teams were hit by injury and unavailability but stalwarts Vaughan Marshall for Sarnia and Leanne Jordan for the Guns both remained unbeaten on the day.
A 4-8 loss to Hamilton and Warren Searle against Morris and Evan Newell was a surprise to all and it looked like being the deciding factor, especially when Hornsby and Lauren Yarrow were 2-5 down.
Their eventual tie-break win over Bagnall and Tess Robinson put the Sloggers in touch with their opposition with the mixed to play.
The results were split but the game differential went the Sloggers way, five sets all, 58 games to 53.
Basking in the glory of last week’s win Division 3 Sarnia Saints headed to Nichols Point to play the DI’s.
Aydin Yazici and Cooper Young of the Saints continued their fine form with a first set win over Rowley Kanginiva and Ayaka Kirirua-Gill, 8-4.
Yazici teamed up with Glen Hornsby in the second doubles to make it two sets to zero with an 8-3 win over Kanginiva and Su Turaki.
The Pointers got one back in the third as Kirirua-Gill and Turaki proved too strong for Young and Hornsby, 8-3.
Meanwhile the Saints women had made a great start. Layla Searle and Maree Moore slugged it out to win 8-6 over Nancy Kirirua-Gill and Stacey Leaver.
Returning from injury and illness Cath Banks of the Saints made an impression but was not able to take the set with Searle as they went down 5-8 to Nancy and Ratu Opo.
The final set was all the DI’s way and levelled the sets with the mixed to play.
A decisive 8-2 win to Yazici and Searle over Kanginiva and Kirirua-Gill looked to have put the match in the bag for the Saints but the Dis were not finished.
They struggled though to win both remaining mixed in tie-breakers giving them the win and one of the closest finishes for the season,five sets to four, 55 games all.
In Junior A Grade, Sarnia Gold continued their winning way with a comprehensive victory over St Andrews.
Winning the first three sets put Sarnia Gold in a great position. Aydin Yazici defeated Nate Hogarth 6-2 and Cooper Young beat Jack Dichiera, 6-3.
Antonio “The Secret Weapon” Daniele and Jayden Smyth combined magnificently to defeat Rose Dichiera and Caylem Fell.
Rose Dichiera’s singles win over Smyth was the one shining light in an otherwise bleak day for St Andrews as Sarnia went on to win, seven sets to one, 44 games to 17.
Sarnia A Gade Blue had a tougher day at the office.
With players unavailable on both sides there were some unexpected match-ups and interesting results in their match with Sacred Heart Green.
Aaron Williams of Sacred Heart Green beat Sarnia Blue’s Hamish Smyth 6-3 but a 6-0 win to Joaquin Leal (Blue) over Tami Fanoiki kept things interesting and when Sarnia’s Layla Searle and James Rizzuto were victorious over Onad Gozelburc and Mercedes Kaiser-Leal, 6-4, it seemed the match would go Sarnia’s way. But from that point on the teams traded sets.
Williams for Sacred Heart and Rizzuto for Sarnia were the only ones to win all their sets, James verifying it was his “best match of the season”.
Unfortunately for Sarnia it was just not enough as they went down by the closest of margins, 33 games to 34.
Sunraysia District Tennis Association round 11 results:
DIVISION 1
Sarnia Sloggers 5(58) d Sacred Heart Guns 5(53): Vaughan Marshall 24/4 (Sarnia), Leanne Jordan 24/12 (Sacred Heart).
Alcheringa Avengers 8(68) d Nichols Point Guns n Roses: Roberto Fuoco 24/14, Campbell McKenzie 24/13, Kylie Timms 24/12, Deanne Spence 24/16 (Alcheringa).
Nichols Point Legends 7(68) d Red Cliffs Rebels 3(52): Nathan Sweeney 24/9, Matt Bates 24/19 (Nichols Point), Lisa Hill 24/12 (Red Cliffs).
DIVISION 2
Nichols Point Pointers 6(64) d Alcheringa All Stars 3(52): Corina O’Callaghan 24/9 (Nichols Point).
St Andrews Slammers 6(65) d Wentworth Webels 3(46): Munaf Ami 24/10, Rod Healy 24/10 (St Andrews), Caitlin Hancock 24/17.
DIVISION 3
St Andrews Spartans 6(63) d Red Cliffs Ratbagz 3(40): Julie Dunn 24/7, Gloria Sylvia 24/9 (St Andrews).
Nichols Point Diamonds 9(72) d Sacred Heart Braves 0(28): Dennis Allen 24/13, Vishal Kapadia 24/11, Geoff John 24/6, Cheryl Collis 24/9, Jenny Green 24/9,
Wendy Dickie 24/6 (Nichols Point).
Nichols Point DI’s 5(55) d Sarnia Saints 4(55): Alcheringa Almighties 9(72) d Wentworth Wascals 0(15): Paul Bevan 24/8, Mark Henderson 24/7, Ash Quinlivan 24/1, Peta-Mary Hogarth 24/5, Leanne Hancock 24/6, Mandy Phillips 24/3 (Alcheringa).
DIVISION 4
St Andrews Almost Skilled 5(47) d St Andrews Saints 4(50): Dale Irvin 24/8, Jess Irvin 24/17 (Almost Skilled), Yasmeen Khurshid 24/0 (Saints).
Alcheringa Alfrescoes 5(59) d Kenny Park Magpies 4(49): Louise Higgins 24/14 (Alcheringa).
LADDERS
DIVISION 1
Nichols Point Legends 66.5
Sarnia Sloggers 60.5
Sacred Heart Guns 59.0
Red Cliffs Rebels 57.0
Alcheringa Avengers 51.5
Nichols Pt Guns n Roses 29.5
DIVISION 2
Alcheringa All Stars 49.5
St Andrews Slammers 47.0
Nichols Point Pointers 40.5
Wentworth Webels 31.0
Sacred Heart Starters 19.0
DIVISION 3
Nichols Point Diamonds 66.5
Nichols Point DI’s 59.5
Alcheringa Almighties 59.0
St Andrews Spartans 52.5
Sacred Heart Braves 49.0
Sarnia Saints 47.5
Red Cliffs Ratbagz 47.0
Wentworth Wascals 15.0
DIVISION 4
Kenny Park Magpies 71.0
St Andrews Almost Skilled 49.0
Alcheringa Alfrescoes 42.0
St Andrews Saints 25.0
