A battle of the competition’s top two teams from the home and away season, a trio of victories from captain Kieran Moon and Alex Vandenberg would be the catalyst for the grand final triumph, as Students charged to victory with five successive rubber triumphs.
Moon, who assumed the role as captain for season 2021-22, said he could not be more thrilled with what his team accomplished on grand final night.
“It is a fantastic feeling (to be premiers), it was great to back it up after winning the A2 last year — so to go up a grade and conquer that one as well we are all very proud of what we have achieved,” Moon said.
“It was tight after the men’s sets being just one game ahead and then we ended up coming up good in the final few rubbers.
“Having pretty well the same team as last year it is pretty clear we play well together, and we managed to play our best tennis on the night which was great.”
Along with Moon’s dominant performance, Students got fantastic contributions out of Andrea Kiel (two wins), Sam Wieland (two wins) and Kara Shields (two wins), who stood up in big moments throughout the match.
For McEwen Reserve, Murray Akers and Brock O’Hara were gallant, delivering a pivotal 6-4 triumph in rubber two, while Kylie Reither and Helen Malcolm were also impressive in producing a 6-2 win in rubber four.
But all in all, it was Students’ night, with the grand final victory serving as a culmination of months of hard work.
“A fair bit of practice (went into the season), we do gel well as a team, so we came into the season with confidence that we could go pretty well,” Moon said.
“Every game counts in this competition, so our focus heading into the year was just get every game we can and see how we go from there.”
A team that has now won back-to-back titles, Moon said he was not sure what the future holds for his squad with the potential of a three-peat now on the cards.
“We are a bit unsure at the moment, it will be pretty tough to have two teams in the pennant competition, so it is up to the association as to what they want to do with us,” he said.
“We will see what happens, we put three teams in this year and to get one through to the grand final and win it was great and shows the club is going in the right direction.”
