IT was hot conditions on and off the court for the Mininera and District Junior Tennis Association grand finals last Saturday in Ararat.
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The A Grade match between the undefeated Willaura White and Tatyoon got off to an exciting start, with Tatyoon's Archie Conboy and James Phillips taking the first set from sisters Kate and Louise Millear, 6-0.
White's Aaron Byron and Charlie Waites played a strong match against Georgia Richardson and Grace Astbury to win the second set and tie the score at one set all, however Tatyoon was still leading by one game.
Willaura White had to dig deep in the second half of the match. The Millear girls overcame their nervous start and combined well with Byron and Waites to win both remaining sets, 6-2.
The final score saw Willaura White victorious over Tatyoon three sets 18 games to one set 11 games.
In the B Grade grand final between Willaura Black and Buangor, the first two sets had extremely close results.
Jake Morgan and Nicholas Vallance held on against Tim Hartwich and Sophie Dyer to win 7-5, while Scott Evans and Toby Vallance had to battle it out in a tie breaker against brother-sister combination Tom and Alex Fraser to win the second set, 7-6.
Although Black had the edge early in the match after winning the first two sets, Buangor made a comeback in the second half of the clash to claim one of the sets.
Despite this, Black managed to hang on and win the remaining set, giving them an unassailable lead three sets 24 games to one set 20 games.
There was an upset in the C Grade grand final when Ararat, who hadn't been unable to win a match and had finished on the bottom of the ladder, managed to find form at the right end of the season and defeat Lake Bolac.
This match was also tied at one set all after the first two contests, with brother-sister combination Dougal and Matilda Doery unable to take the first set from Ararat's Nathaniel Kuchel and Sam Phillips.
Lake Bolac fared better in the second set when sisters Holly and Madsy Phillips held onto win a tie breaker from Charlotte Millear and Phillipa Bush, 7-6.
Ararat came home strongly to win the remaining two sets and take the match three sets 24 games to one set 13 games.
Organiser of the competition Leesa McInnes said it was a great finish to what has been another successful season in the Mininera and District Junior Tennis Association.
"All players should be proud of their performance whether they won or lost," she said.
"It was a really terrific morning of tennis with very little between the teams in any of the matches. We had a large crowd of spectators and all the kids played really well and displayed excellent sportsmanship.
"I was very proud of them all. It was great to see everyone enjoying the morning and parents all helping out with various jobs. We couldn't have such a fantastic competition if it wasn't for their support and I thank them very much for this."
Presentations of medallions to the winning players and tennis socks to the runners-up where made by Trevor Link, manager of the Willaura/Lake Bolac Community Bendigo Bank.
This is the fifth year that the Bank has been the sponsor of the event.
Awards for exceptional sportsmanship were also awarded to a player from each team. Winners of these awards were Kate Millear (Willaura White), James Phillips (Tatyoon), Jake Morgan (Willaura Black), Sophie Dyer (Buangor), Nathaniel Kuchel (Ararat) and Matilda Doery (Lake Bolac).
A barbecue for players and their families followed the presentations.
The competition will resume again in fourth term. New players are welcome and should contact Leesa McInnes on 0409 541 496 for further information.