SOUTH Bendigo stung Spring Gully Butterflies in Friday night’s grand final to be the Bendigo Tennis Association’s premier league champions for 2016-17.
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The Jordan Hicks-led South Bendigo won four of six rubbers on its way to a 10-65 to 6-48 victory.
Spring Gully won all three contests with South Bendigo in the regular season.
The premiership decider hit off with South Bendigo in top form in the doubles.
Both matches went to a third-set tiebreaker.
Hicks and Ryan Leader scored a 6-1 6-7 10-3 win against Jamie Brown and Bronwyn Osborne.
Grant Leader and Mick Mulgrew struck back from a 6-2 loss in the first set against Craig Nolan and Danielle Bowles to claim the next two sets, 6-3 10-8.
In the singles, Hicks outplayed Brown, 6-2 6-3, in the battle of the number one players.
Young guns Lachlan Perdon and Ryan Leader were in the number two position.
A 6-2 6-3 win by Leader put South Bendigo well in front.
Spring Gully lifted as Craig Nolan fought back from a 6-3 loss in set one against Grant Leader to then score 7-5 and 10-4 victories.
A hard-fought match between Bowles and Peter Somerville also went to a third set tiebreaker.
Bowles overcame a 6-3 loss in the opening set to level the contest after a 6-2 triumph.
The Butterflies’ ace won an exciting tiebreaker, 13-11.
South Bendigo led the sets tally, 10-6 and raised the premiership cup.
The margin between the eventual grand finalists decreased each time they met.
Butterflies won by nine, eight and one game in the previous three showdowns with South Bendigo.
Spring Gully ended the home-and-away series with a win-loss record of 11-5 and top spot on the ladder.
South Bendigo was third on a 9-6 record and won three finals contests in a row to be the eventual champion against a team which was on or near top of the ladder all spring-summer.
• In section one, Phoenix scored a nine-game victory against Panthers in the all-Spring Gully grand final.
Clark Forbes, Luke Holmfield and Heather Robbins won all three rubbers they played for Phoenix in a 7-66 to 3-57 victory.
Section one scoreboard:
Clark Forbes d Riley Hamilton 8-5.
Luke Holmfield and Kyle Johnston d Kevin Sourgen and Brendon Taylor 8-6.
Forbes-Holmfield d Hamilton-Sourgen 8-4.
Forbes-Johnston d Hamilton-Taylor 9-7.
Morgan McCormick lt Debbie Bish 1-8.
Heather Robbins-Hally Wild d Justine Fitzgibbon-Kerry Baber 8-5.
McCormick-Robbins d Bish-Fitzgibbon 8-3.
McCormick-Wild lt Bish-Baber 4-8.
Holmfield-Robbins d Sourgen-Fitzgibbon 8-3.
Johnston-Wild lt Taylor-Baber 4-8.
