Martlets Defeat Wyverns

In another classic showdown of local, but friendly rivals, Coach Krugman and the KO squad visited Westminster to start the week with some incredible tennis. At #1, Parks Cuskley ‘25 and Liam Hibbard ‘27 got some revenge for an early season loss to a talented, double-lefty KO team, while the #2 team of co-captain Hugh Olson ‘25 and Alex Brown ‘27 fell in a breaker. It was nearly another epic comeback at #3 with Finn Hocking ‘26 and Will Henry ‘26, who saved two match points down 7-3 in the match, but fell in their breaker as well. Down 1-0 heading into singles. Up stepped co-captain Alexei Kocatas ‘25, who had just played some solid doubles with Jack Pickett ‘26 at #4, used all his steady momentum and focus to win in straight sets at #6. 1-1 overall. Hibbard had a near epic comeback of his own, playing some of his best tennis of the season in the second set to force a super breaker. Back and forth they went, sadly with Liam losing the last two points. 1-2 overall. While Olson had his own seesaw battle at #3, on the adjacent court was Hocking who took his match at #4 in straight sets–credit to his opponent for hanging in there. Not to be outdone, Olson got some singles revenge as well against a feisty, great mover, winning his super breaker to put us ahead 3-2 overall. We really needed that one! Brown was still alive at #5, and was about to start his own super breaker, when from the ashes and while actively “recovering” from a stomach bug, Cuskley came up clutch. He saved a set point to win his first set in a tiebreak, dropped a quick second, then rattled off several of the remaining points in his superbreaker to give us the victory. “Most gritty thing I’ve ever seen” was the team reaction, with a big bonus coming as Brown then won his superbreaker to make it 5-2 overall. So many of us played great, but hard to not give the grit and grace award to Cuskley. Our alums across the country heard the news on the channels and were pumped to hear it, truly a team effort. The boys will bounce back quick against a tough Deerfield team on the road on Wednesday.

1. Parks Cuskley ‘25 - 7-6(6), 1-6, 10-6 W

2. Liam Hibbard ‘27 - 6-2, 2-6, 10-8 L

3. Hugh Olson ‘25 - 6-1, 3-6, 10-7 W

4. Finn Hocking ‘26 - 6-0, 6-4 W

5. Alex Brown ‘27 - 6-4, 4-6, 10-2 W

6. Alexei Kocatas ‘25 - 6-1, 6-2 W

7. Henry Flaton ‘25 - 9-7 L

8. Noah Maltby ‘28 - 8-3 W

9. Steven Chun ‘25 - 8-5 W

Doubles:

1. Parks Cuskley ‘25/Liam Hibbard ‘27 - 8-5 W

2. Hugh Olson ‘25/Alex Brown ‘27 - 9-8(3) L

3. Will Henry ‘26/Finn Hocking ‘26 - 9-8(4) L

4. Jack Pickett ‘26/Alexei Kocatas ‘25 8-5 W