Going unbeaten through all 16 regular season games, Echuca 1 proved simply too strong for the rest of the competition, sealing a dominant season with the 9-82 to 4-75 win at Rochester Lawn Tennis Club on Saturday.
“It was great to go through the season undefeated,” Echuca 1’s Todd Charnas said.
“I don't think anyone wants to go through the year undefeated and then not win the grand final, but it was certainly hard fought and very close, that's for sure, as I thought it would be.”
Charnas also heaped praise on his teammates, who have together claimed the first division one threepeat since Rich River earned four titles in a row from 2015-16 to 2018-19.
"It's obviously a very good team, we all get on well,” he said.
“And it's certainly not easy to win one, so to win three in a row is pretty special.”
The reigning premier didn’t have it all its own way throughout the contest, as Rochester 1 put up a strong fight to take the challenge to the mighty Echuca 1 side.
Jaycob Dingwall claimed a 6-1 singles victory for Rochester over Charnas, while Jacob Grieves defeated Nick Bush 6-2 to hand Rochy an early advantage once the singles matches had been completed.
Grieves and Nash Hocking also combined to take an 8-5 win in the men’s doubles, but Echuca 1 hit back with wins to Charnas and Stephen Hope (8-4), as well as Hope and Shane Coatsworth (8-7).
Echuca 1 claimed each of the four women’s doubles matches, with Roxanne Dicketts, Celine Joyce, Anthea Mathers, Genevieve Bush and Vicki Bavich all playing extraordinary tennis to open up the lead for Echuca 1.
But Rochester remained in striking distance heading into the mixed doubles, where Tobie Woodfine and Kate Familari managed to claim an 8-2 win. However, Echuca did just enough to secure wins in the remaining three rubbers and, with them, the overall triumph.
Despite winning nine sets to four, Echuca 1 only won by seven games overall, a testament to the fight shown by Rochester 1 and a fact not lost on Charnas.
“It was very close all the way along, and we thought that would be the case,” he said.
“A lot of those sets that we won were tie-break sets, so the nine sets to four is not a reflection of how close it was.
“It was only four or five games, I think, or five or six games up going into the mixed (doubles). It was very tight all day.”
In division two, Echuca 4 ensured a sweep of the senior divisions for Echuca Lawn Tennis Club, claiming the premiership with a 9-72 to 4-57 win over Rochester 2 to seal back-to-back titles.
In the junior divisions, Tongala 1 claimed the division A title over LBU 3, Rochester 4 was victorious over Elmore 4 in division B and Echuca 15 proved too strong for Rich River 3 to claim the division C trophy.
More photos: pages 14 and 15
