McGlashan Red lost its record after bowing out on countback to last year's champion Cosy Dell, while Eastern Harbour and McGlashan Blue could not be separated on rubbers, sets or games and played out a rare tie.
Mornington-Roslyn beat Balmacewen 5-1 in the other men's tie, while St Clair and Mornington-Roslyn Les Belles were women's winners with one tie held over by agreement.
The Cosy Dell men showed the benefit of teamwork when they won both doubles in short order, despite losing both lower singles in straight sets. They were able to use the angles and volley effectively and turn around the 3-1 singles deficit.
The calculators were out when Eastern Harbour and McGlashan Blue reviewed their 3-3 draw after four rubbers were three-setters.
Former Auckland junior rep Aaron Hicks looked to push Harry James after winning the first set 7-6, but James was more consistent off the ground and fought back to win 6-2, 6-2 in the next two.
James Reid hung in to beat Angus Milne 7-5 in the third set and the bottom doubles went to a third-set tiebreak, while Joe Highton deserved credit for taking Ryan Eggers to three sets.
Former Southern junior rep George Wigley was up and down, but held on to beat James Bourne in a tiebreak second set when Mornington-Roslyn beat Balmacewen 5-1.
St Clair women had a 2-0 lead after straight-sets singles wins by Scarlett Cuthill and Jessika Brass against Balmacewen but dropped the doubles in a third-set tiebreak.
The tie between the two Mornington-Roslyn teams resulted in Les Belles downing Les Formidables 2-1 after Heike Cebulla-Elder took three sets to beat Georgia Scott 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 and North Otago No 1 Nicky Wallace was forced to withdraw after an injury at one set-all with Jessica Callaghan.
The tie between Eastern Harbour and the combined Harbour-St Clair team will be played later.
