The Rhodes University tennis team finished fifth in the A section of the annual University Sport South Africa (USSA) tournament held at North West University Potchefstroom held between 3 July and 7 July.
Rhodes began their week against hosts NWU Pukke and put up a very good fight despite going down heavily in a match where the scores did not reflect the situation on the court.
Things did not get much better on day two of the tournament as they went up against University of Free State Kovsies who have been the team to beat for the last decade or so.
Kovsies were dominant from the get go and showed why they were the tournament favourites completing a white wash over Rhodes on their way to eventually winning the tournament for the 10th year in the row.
The two defeats meant that Rhodes missed out on the semi-finals. However, the team bounced back, beating NWU Mafikeng in their last pool match to finish third in their pool.
Day four saw Rhodes take on Vaal University of Technology (VUT) where a win would see them in the fifth/ sixth place play off on the last day.
The team comfortably managed to beat VUT dropping just one set across the 10 matches played which meant that they headed into the fifth place play off as the favourites.
Rhodes faced Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) on the final day of the tournament and saved their best tennis for when it counted as they hammered them 8-0 in the singles to claim fifth.
UFS Kovsies beat Tuks in the final to win the tournament whilst Stellenbosch overcame NWU Pukke to place third with some brilliant tennis on display on the final day of an eventful week.
It was a fantastic result for the Rhodes Tennis Club who have struggled this year not being able to host fixtures due to the burning down of their clubhouse and it was a big statement by them proving that despite their small size they can still compete at the highest of levels.
