Sport Results, Tennis

Snr Tennis – Fichardtpark McDonalds Sports Day

Union tennis aces compete in Bloem

On Thursday, 27 February, Union High School’s Top 8 tennis boys and girls hit the road to Bloemfontein, to participate in the Fichardtpark McDonalds Sports Day, hosted by Hoërskool Fichardtpark.

This annual tournament is a highlight on Union’s tennis calendar, and, as always, an incredibly high standard of tennis was evident throughout the competition.

• Boys

Despite a very early start on Friday, the boys were extremely enthusiastic and took to the courts ready to show off their strategies and ball skills in one of the most popular games in the world.

Brent Hesselink got the competition off to a great start for the boys’ second team, winning Union’s very first match of the day.

This seemed to boost his team members’ confidence and the boys continued to produce great tennis throughout the day.

The boys’ first team fared just as well and delivered some really exciting tennis. Congratulations are extended to Matthew Hesselink who won all his singles matches, as well as to doubles duo, Brett Amsterdam and Bowen Langmead, who dominated the court, going unbeaten on the day.

Both the boys’ first and second teams produced really competitive tennis throughout the day and must be commended on their great sportsmanship and never-say-die attitude.

Overall, the boys’ first team ended second in their section, with the second team ending third in theirs.

• Girls

Union’s spirited girls’ first team was divided into a pool that featured some very strong competition.

But, even though they had to face some intimidating tennis heavyweights, the girls never got discouraged, giving it their all on the courts in every single encounter.

The girls tied for third place in their pool, and upon conclusion of the day’s play, placed 8th overall in the ‘A’ section.

The girls’ second team also enjoyed a very competitive day on the courts and ended the tournament having placed 15th out of the 19 schools entered in the ‘B’ section.

The girls displayed a lot of grit on the courts and Union High School thanks them for their efforts.

Sport Results, Tennis

Jnr Tennis Results vs Gill

Monday afternoon, 24 February, saw Union’s Top 6 junior tennis players competing against their Gill Primary School counterparts on Union’s courts.

The girls won their encounter 6 – 2, while the boys were also victorious, with an end result of 6 – 3.

Well done to all concerned!

Sport Results, Tennis

EP Selection – Tennis

Congratulations to Tara Ferreira, Matthew Paxton and Caytah-Leigh Koeberg who were recently selected to represent the Eastern Cape at the upcoming Inter-Provincial Primary and High Schools national tennis tournament to be held from 9 to 12 April.

These players were selected during trials played in January.

Tara will represent the province as part of their Girls u/13 team, Caytah-Leigh will be playing for the Girls u/15 team and Matthew will be playing for the Eastern Cape Aloes Boys u/13 team.

Union High School is proud of the depth of our tennis talent and congratulate our players on the honour of representing the Eastern Cape. Provincial selection is the result of long hours on the tennis court practising and is recognition of their talent and passion for the sport.

Sport Results, Tennis

Snr Tennis – Marco Wasserman Tournament

Union High School’s Top 8 boys’ and girls’ tennis players took part in the annual Marco Wasserman tennis tournament, played in Middelburg this past weekend.

Over the course of the two days, the players competed in a Round Robin doubles and mixed doubles format against six other schools.  Despite strong competition, the Union learners acquitted themselves very well, playing excellent tennis and coming away from the experience with plenty of lessons learnt.  Having lost 10 matric players, the team is entering a building phase, but the newcomers to the team definitely showcased their potential during the tournament.

While the Top 4 boys and girls played tenaciously, they were mostly outplayed in the A section which was won convincingly by Pearson High School.

The second team ended in a very admirable 3rd place in the B section, which was this year won by Aliwal North High School.

As always, the players made the school very proud with their impeccable behaviour and a special word of congratulations is extended to Bowen Langmead, who won an award for his excellent manners on and off the court, Brent Hesselink who received an award for his determination, Sara Kingwill who won the award for the player with the most potential and Chloe Shires who received an award for sportsmanship.

Sport Results, Tennis

Snr Tennis vs Cradock

On Monday afternoon, 19 August, Union High School’s Top 6 girls and boys tennis players battled it out on the courts against Cradock High School.

The boys beat Cradock convincingly with 9 matches to 0.

The girls, who played some very competitive sets against a strong Cradock side, also managed to claim victory with 5 games to Cradock’s 4.

Sport Results, Tennis

Jnr Tennis vs LVS

Monday afternoon, 8 April, saw Union’s top junior players facing Laer Volkskool in, what turned out to be, a very closely-contested bout of tennis.  The UHS junior girls proved superior on the day, beating Volkskool with 6 matches to 3.

The junior boys, who could, unfortunately, only field three of their regular first team players, lost their encounter with 3 games to Volkskool’s 6.  All the players put forth their best efforts on the day and certainly did the school proud.

Well done girls!
Sport Results, Tennis

Snr Tennis: Fichardt Park McDonalds Tournament

Eight senior boys and girls participated in the Fichardt Park McDonalds Tennis tournament in Bloemfontein over the weekend of 1 March. Playing without our hockey and rugby players, the teams acquitted themselves admirably, every player giving of his or her best.

In both the A and B tournaments, our girls were outplayed by very strong opposition, but must be commended for both their tenacity and exemplary on and off-court manners at all times.

In the boys sections, Union High showed their depth of talent coming second in the A section to Upington High School. Upington ended the tournament with 78 games, and Union with 72. Noä Cilliers and Peter Watermeyer were awarded the prize for the best doubles couple there.

In the B section, Union’s second four players were unbeaten against Fichardt Park, Grens, Middelburg and Upington, but on game average, the winners of this tournament were Upington again. Union had beaten them by 11 games to 10.

Mrs Vorster and Mrs Galloway would like to thank all the players for their impeccable manners and behaviour. The boys in particular, were extremely helpful with carrying luggage, packing and hooking the trailer and we were very grateful for their assistance.