Wet win for Waverley

By Stuart Teather
IT was a cold, wet Waverley Tennis team that took the honours at the Association and Regional Teams Challenge in Bendigo over the long weekend.
The players lost almost half their court time due to rain, but the Waverley team still managed to come out on top of the 17 Associations and country regions which were represented at the event.
The team, which included boys and girls competing in under 12, 14 and 16 categories, rolled through the tournament undefeated, blitzing their rivals in each round.
Waverley flew through the group stage, winning 37 of a possible 42 sets to book a ticket into the semi-finals as top seed.
An 11-set-to-one win against Central Gippsland in the semis ensured a spot in the final against Eastern Region and a grand-final rematch from 2008.
Last year Waverley led Eastern 8-3 in the final when rain struck and washed the matches out, forcing a draw between the two teams.
But the rain held off this time around and Waverley flew to victory, winning eight sets to four.
Team manager Karen Butler highlighted the efforts of the 12-and-under team, consisting of Tyson Wyett, Cooper Wyett, Lachlan Bridgland, Destanee Aiava, Kelly Martin and Emma Leech, who won 20 of a possible 22 sets throughout the tournament.
“They were a really dominant group and they really put it together,” she said.
“Our number-one 12-and-under girl Destanee – she’s only eight years old and she was playing at number-one. She didn’t lose a match all tournament.”
As for the secret to Waverley’s success, Butler put it down to team harmony.
“Our squads are pretty tight, I coach them and we all know each other very well,” she said. “It’s just a different atmosphere in our team, whereas the other regions don’t know each other very well, our players are always together.”