Players from Rotorua women's premier winning squad, from left, Mia Wardlaw, Debbie Dowland, Lara Wild, captain Leona Davis-Kaye and Aliya Edwards. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Players from Rotorua women's premier winning squad, from left, Mia Wardlaw, Debbie Dowland, Lara Wild, captain Leona Davis-Kaye and Aliya Edwards. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
The Rotorua women's tennis team are celebrating after winning the Waikato Bay regional premier senior interclub title.
The premier winners took home the trophy they won in 2014 after beating second-placed Tauranga Lawn in a determined 4-2 win away on Saturday.
Rotorua women's captain Leona Davis-Kaye said she was "ecstatic" to take home the title and highlighted No 2 seed Aliya Edwards, who powered to a 6-3 6-2 win over Tauranga's Jo Alsop in the singles, was a standout for her team.
"What a great team win," she said. "This means a lot to us and it was all about having the right combination and balance of players in the squad.
"Tauranga put up a tough fight. They completely changed their team from two rounds ago and had some very talented junior players. But we were so determined to win nothing was going to stop us.
"Aliya especially had a tough game. Her serve and forehand were outstanding though. Getting that win under our belts was crucial for the team."
Rotorua women's captain Leona Kaye-Davis helped steer her side to the Waikato Bay regional premier senior interclub title this season. PHOTO/FILE
Davis-Kaye added it was important for all of her six-strong squad - No 1 seed 17-year-old Mia Wardlaw, Edwards (2), Debbie Dowland (4), Wei wei Verran (5) and Lara Wild (6) involved.
"I could have made the decision to just have our top four involved but that's not what we're all about here," she said.
"The reason we have done so well this season is because of our team mentality and supporting each and everyone involved in the squad."
On their way to victory in the singles Rotorua women's Davis-Kaye beat Tauranga's Carys Robson 6-3 6-2, while local Dowland dug deep to beat Anita Walpole 3-6 6-3 6-4.
And in the doubles Davis-Kaye and partner Wei wei Verran beat Tauranga's Sussa Daley and Carys Hughes 6-4 6-3.
The winning result left them unbeaten for the season after six games in a competition they have dominated from the start.
But there is no rest for some of the players with focus now turned towards individual tournaments- including the 2016 Maori Tennis Championships in Hamilton on December 27, a competition Davis-Kaye will be involved in.
"This has been a fabulous season for us," she said. "It was hard in many respects because we lost a lot of young and talented players before the season began but grit and hard work got us the result.
"As a club we'll now look at individual competitions and hopefully replicate to similar success."
Waikato Bay regional premier local results:
Women's:
Singles: Mia Wardlaw (ROT) lost to Sussa Daley (TL) 6-3 6-0; Aliya Edward (ROT) beat Jo Alsop (TL) 6-3 6-2; Leona Davis-Kaye (ROT) beat Carys Robson (TL) 6-3, 6-2; Debbie Dowland (ROT) beat Anita Walpole (TL) 3-6 6-3.
