Echuca Slice Girls: Vicki Bavich, Di Sorati, Wendy Dwyer, Vanessa Cinanni, Siobhan Birtles and Emma Webb.
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Three teams from the Echuca Tennis Club’s Thursday Ladies competition all finished runners-up in their respective sections at Tennis Victoria’s 2026 Country Week last weekend.
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It was the first time at Country Week for many of the 18 total players featuring from Echuca, who played in humid and windy conditions at Mooroopna Recreation Reserve.
The Echuca Slice Girls competed in section 9, the Echuca Miss Hits in section 14 and the Echuca Ally Cats in section 17.
Each team competed in a round-robin style format, first facing off against seven opponents before the top four advanced to the semi-finals.
The Slice Girls came particularly close to winning their section, finishing fourth before knocking off number one seed Hit and Sip in the semi-final.
The Slice Girls narrowly lost the grand final to Topspin and Trouble by four games, 24-20, despite a 2-2 tie on sets.
Di Sorati and Vicki Bavich was in fine form in the doubles, winning nine of the 10 sets they played together.
In section 14, the Echuca Miss Hits finished second, going on to play top seed Macedon/Kilmore in the grand final.
Echuca Miss Hits: Trina Godfrey, Toni Hunt, Noelene Findlay, Robyn McCluskey, Marg Noske and Sue McPherson.
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After Toni Hunt and Marg Noske tied the overall games with an 8-6 second set win, a strong third set from Macedon/Kilmore saw it prevail 8-0, which ultimately made up the 28-20 defeat on games.
Finally, the Echuca Ally Cats advanced to the semi-finals in section 17 as the fourth seed.
The ladies caused an upset in the semi-finals, defeating the one seeded team from Ballarat Lawn Tennis Club which had only dropped four sets in the round-robin.
The Beavers, also from Ballarat, proved a step too far in the grand final, defeating the Ally Cats 27-18.
Echuca Ally Cats: Rose McDonald, Ally Britnell, Trish Christianson, Barb Hansen and Tara Elso.
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Organising three teams to play at Country Week was a big effort for Echuca Tennis Club.
Such is the size of the event, players come together from across Victoria, and some competitors this year even travelled from as far as New Zealand and the UK.
Six months ago, Echuca Slice Girls member Vanessa Cinanni and a teammate had the idea of fielding only one team, but such was the interest they received that three teams travelled to Mooroopna.
“It was a great cohort of ladies which made the experience so much more fun. Hopefully next year we can bring home the gold,” Cinanni said.
Should they participate again next year, the Echuca women will be headed to Albury-Wodonga, with Tennis Victoria having announced the 2027 Country Week will be hosted in the twin cities.
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