Dianne Ellis No 1 in Invercargill squash team in 1986...........

The Invercargill Squash Club had a successful night in the women's intercub with both of their teams winning which meant they were joint at the top of the table.

The Invercargill No 1 team dished out a big lesson to Gore No 2 with Dianne Ellis leading the charge.  Her opponent Lois Marshall could not buy a trick and Dianne either played into the corners or cross court to the side walls.
Lois could not get the long game that was needed to keep Dianne moving and ending up losing 9-0,9-0,9-0.
Ellis was being coached by Derek Bulman in aniticpation for the New Zealand championships.  She had concentrated on her fitness over the previous two years and developed a good drop shot.
She had achieved this by playing with men in the senior compeition.
Sally Hoskin kept her game tight against Pam Dickson and went on to win 10-9,9-5,10-9.
Georgina Ellis was down 8-0 against Sandra Speden, until she worked out how to counteract Speden's cross court shots, she managed to claw back 5 points but lost the first game.  She changed tact and played more length and took any opportunity that came her way.  She took the next three games 9-6,9-7,9-6.
Jenny McLeay lost to Hilary Marshall.  The score of 9-7,9-3,9-4 did not reflect the game and although Jenny tried everything she could, nothing could stop Hilary from being the victor.
Invercargill v Riversdale
Shona Elder continued with her magnifient form against Jean McLellan (Invercargill).  Both players did a lot of chasing with neither giving in.  The final score was 9-4,9-8,9-7.
Joan Pankhurst won against Marie Anderson, 9-2,6-9,9-1,9-7, she had a lapse of concentration in the second set but played her usual good game to win through.
The game of the night was between Jenny Smith (Invercargill) and Kay Stevens with the game going to 5 sets.  Neither player would give an inch and they both chased everything.  Smith won 9-5,4-9,2-9,9-0,9-7.
Old Boy's v Gore 1
Karynne  Beattie (Gore) played Kaye McPhedran, who had a higher grading.  She piled the pressure on Kaye who used her experience and determination to win 4-9,9-5,6-9,10-8,5-9.
As players were of similary style the spectators thoroughly enjoyed watching the battle of the wills.
Carmen Orlowski played against Mary Smith (Gore) whose fitness and experience won the game 10-8,9-7,9-1.
It was great to see Colleen Lavender back on the club scene but her opponent, Lyn Wilson was too superior and ended up winning 3-0.
Kaye Morton showed how well she has improved other aspects of her game, and especially from the front of the court where she was too smart for Sharyn Conlon winning 9-3,9-3,9-2.

Reference:  The Southland Times
                      June 1986.

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