DIVISION 2 team St Andrews Slammers have routed co-tenants Sacred Heart Starters to develop a strong lead at the top of the table in the Sunraysia District Tennis Association.
The St Andrews Tennis Club outfit was in superb touch as they dished out a brutal 9-0 whitewash against their lowly ranked opponents at the Aero Ovals complex.
Craig Pratt, Tash Pedler and Jen Gibson were the standouts, while Raki Woetai, Rod Healy and Sue Hardie also played well.
While not having a Division 1 team, the Slammers appear a very competitive line-up on paper and, at this stage, look likely favourites for the Division 2 premiership.
In Division 3, St Andrews Spartans did themselves a favour in the run home to the finals with a massive win over Sacred Heart Braves, which has elevated them to third on the ladder.
The match was closer than it looked, according to John Compton of the Braves, as “a couple of tie-breaks went the wrong way”.
But it was hard to deny who was the better outfit with another 9-0 thrashing.
Julie Dunn finished the day with 24/9 and was best on court for the Spartans.
This year, after some tough recruiting by Sue Hardie, St Andrews has been able to field two Division 4 teams, heavily populated by teachers from Chaffey Secondary College.
Bottom-of-the-table St Andrews Saints took on the might of top-placed Kenny Park Magpies.
St Andrews men won two of their doubles, but the Magpies women took a leaf out of the book of our female Olympians and brought the win home without dropping a set.
Mel Curran (24/7) was the player of the match.
St Andrews should be pleased with their effort though, only losing 4-5 and earning an extra point for winning on games, 50-47, an extremely tight finish.
In the second Division 4 game, St Andrews Saints played Alcheringa Alfrescoes in a similarly close game.
Maz Valentino with 24/14 for Alcheringa was the MVP, and probably the difference on the day, as the Saints went down 4-5, 55 games to 60.
In the juniors, St Andrews A Grade have had a pretty tough season, but last Saturday they got some more points on the board against Sacred Heart Green.
Illness and unavailability impacted the usual line-up for Sacred Heart, who brought in two fill-ins, Louis Nakhla and Samuella Allieu, who will definitely have benefitted from the experience.
St Andrews Nate Hogarth’s 6-5 win over Samar Warring was to set the tone for the morning.
Samuella Allieu got her first singles win in A Grade over Rose Dichiera, 6-3. However, a 6-0 result to the brother-and-sister combination of Jack and Rose Dichiera in the last set of the day ended up being the winning margin, St Andrews 36 to Sacred Heart 30.
SUNRAYSIA District Tennis Association round 12 results:
DIVISION 1
Sarnia Sloggers 7(68) d Alcheringa Avengers 3(53): Ryan Samaras 24/15, Joel Hamilton 24/10, Vaughan Marshall 24/13 (Sarnia); Maria-Stella Blagus 24/12 (Alcheringa).
Red Cliffs Rebels 7(63) d Nichols Point Guns n Roses 3(52): Jack Burford 24/7 (Nichols Point); Bree Smith 24/14, Lisa Hill 24/13, Eliza Hill 24/10 (Red Cliffs).
Sacred Heart Guns 6(66) d Nichols Point Legends 4(53): Nathan Swaeney 24/11 (Nichols Point); Breanna Bagnall 24/14, Leanne Jordan 24/9, Kerrie Lynch 24/8 (Sacred Heart).
DIVISION 2
St Andrews Slammers 9(72) d Sacred Heart Starters 0(33): Raki Woetai 24/15, Craig Pratt 24/11, Rod Healy 24/15, Tash Pedler 24/6, Jen Gibson 24/6; Sue Hardie 24/13 (St Andrews).
Nichols Point Pointers 6(64) d Wentworth Webels 3(53):
Daniel Charlton 24/12, Dale Chappell 24/17, Rowley Rangiuira 24/15 (Nichols Point).
DIVISION 3
St Andrews Spartans 9(72) d Sacred Heart Braves 0(35): Gavin Tisler 24/11, Mick Tisler 24/10, Chris Pattinson 24/10, Julie Dunn 24/9, Regina Warne 24/9, Kirsty Pattinson 24/18 (St Andrews).
Sarnia Saints 6(58) d Red Cliffs Ratbagz 3(54): Daniel Kampman 24/10 (Red Cliffs); Layla Searle 24/11, Cath Banks 24/15 (Sarnia).
Nichols Point Diamonds 7(60) d Alcheringa Almighties 2(37): Noah Turnball 24/9, Cheryl Collis 24/7, Jenny Green 24/9 (Nichols Point).
Nichols Point DI’s 8(71) d Wentworth Wascals 0(29): Ayaka Kirirua-Gill 24/8, Sv Turaki 24/9, Tumu Kirirua-Gill 24/11, Nancy Kirirua Gill 24/4 (Nichols Point).
DIVISION 4
Kenny Park Magpies 5(47) d St Andrews Almost Skilled 4(50): Mel Curran 24/7, Kerry Weinert 24/14, Andrina Mitcham 24/11 (Kenny Park).
Alcheringa Alfrescoes 5(60) d St Andrews Saints 4(55): Maz Valentino 24/14 (Alcheringa).
LADDERS
DIVISION 1
Nichols Point Legends 70.5 115.37
Sarnia Sloggers 69.5 111.63
Sacred Heart Guns 67.0 110.58
Red Cliffs Rebels 66.0 101.69
Alcheringa Avengers 54.5 96.46
Nichols Pt Guns n Roses 32.5 72.40
DIVISION 2
St Andrews Slammers 58.0 146.69
Alcheringa All Stars 49.5 115.33
Nichols Point Pointers 48.5 91.96
Wentworth Webels 34.0 90.48
Sacred Heart Starters 19.0 71.66
DIVISION 3
Nichols Point Diamonds 75.5 139.50
Nichols Point DI’s 69.5 117.87
St Andrews Spartans 63.5 115.04
Alcheringa Almighties 61.0 119.75
Sarnia Saints 55.5 98.70
Red Cliffs Ratbagz 50.0 90.70
Sacred Heart Braves 49.0 93.65
Wentworth Wascals 16.0 48.96
DIVISION 4
Kenny Park Magpies 80.0 235.38
St Andrews Almost Skilled 51.0 95.61
Alcheringa Alfrescoes 49.0 92.10
St Andrews Saints 29.0 52.02
