Tennis Geelong’s Winter Thursday night Triples season has wrapped up with competitive finals across the board.
Section 1 featured the dynastic Moolap Two Phones Chol team against Surfcoast Jan Juc.
Moolap had won eight of the last night Section 1 premierships, and with Jan Juc requiring two fill-ins for the grand final, it was going to be a tall task to knock them off. Moolap brought their A-game, winning each of the first two doubles sets 6-1, along with a 6-4 singles win by Connor Chivell.
Jan Juc’s fill-in Julius Busch hadn’t lost a triples singles set since February 2024, but even he was pushed to his limit before prevailing in a tiebreaker over Moolap captain Lachy Edgar. With the result almost completely in hand going into the last two sets, Moolap’s Callum Davey won the final singles 6-1, with Jan Juc saving some face with 6-3 final doubles set win in a 4-2 32-19 Moolap win.
The last two Section 2 premiers, Hamlyn Park H.E.A.T. and Moolap Zing Kings, faced off in a grudge match for the winter premiership. Hamlyn Park started strongly in their bid to repeat, winning the first two sets 6-1 in doubles and 6-4 in singles by team captain Lou Arzanovski.
Moolap came back with a 6-3 win in No 2 doubles, but Hamlyn’s young Axel Potter-Ayres won a 6-5 battle in singles to put his team up 3-1 going into the last two sets.
Moolap had other plans though, and came through with a 6-1 doubles win and a 6-3 singles win by Matthew Young to reverse the course of the night and take the premiership, 3-3 28-25.
Leopold’s Deuce of Hazard had been on a tear of winning and getting promoted, having conquered Section 5 and then Section 4 Triples the prior two seasons, and had finished as minor premiers in Section 3 Winter.
All Saints, a prior premiership team in Section 2 and Section 3, stood in their way. Leopold were on a mission, winning the three of the first four sets 6-1. Needing to win the last two sets 6-0, All Saints made a last-second challenge, winning the last two sets 6-2 and 6-3, but ultimately Leopold finished on top again with a 3-3 26-21 win.
It was an all-Highton affair in Section 4, with ladder-leaders Kiss My Ace taking on Get a Grip. Kiss My Ace started strong with a 6-2 No 1 doubles win and a 6-4 No 3 singles win by Wilhelm Concha, but Get a Grip came back stronger with triumphs via a 6-2 margin at No 2 doubles and a 6-1 score at No 2 singles.
The teams split the last two sets, 6-1 in doubles to Get a Grip and 6-2 at No 1 singles to Kiss My Ace’s Joseph Glanville, which sealed a 3-3 26-22 upset for Get a Grip’s first premiership.
Another Highton team featured in Section 5, with Highton Flyers travelling to take on Winchelsea. This was the first night comp team in Winchelsea’s history, and with not having lights at their club, they were playing out of Moriac and had finished on top of the ladder.
Winchelsea’s new club secretary Fletcher Allen led the charge and won his two sets on the night, but Highton’s overall consistency was too much, taking a 4-2 27-17 win in the grand final.
Section 6 might have seen the most exciting match of the night, with The Big 3, playing out of St Mary’s, hosting Wandana Strung Out. Wandana took three of the first four sets, and were leading by seven games going into No 1 singles and 3 doubles. However, The Big 3 understood the assignment in their first Triples grand final, and won the last two sets 6-3 and 6-2. With the match a draw, both teams decided to call it a tie and end the season as dual premiers.
