Martlets Battle Wild Boars

The Martlets traveled to Wallingford for our traditional early season contest with the Wild Boars. In what is always a tough matchup, the Martlets fought valiantly and ended up just a third set breaker away from a victory. 

Starting with doubles, Noah Maltby ‘28 and Jack Pickett ‘26 got the Martlets underway with an 8-2 victory at #3 doubles. After a tight couple of games, the Martlets broke this match open quickly and cruised to victory. #2 doubles pairing of Alex Brown ‘27 and Will Henry ‘26 went down fast 0-5 against a strong team, but closed the gap a little bit with some improved play and excellent fighting spirit in their 3-8 loss. At #1 doubles, Liam Hibbard ‘27 and Finn Hocking ‘26 had many close games at the beginning of the match but saw themselves down 2-6. They picked up the intensity and played some excellent tennis to rally, fighting back to 5-6 and having a couple of chances to level at 6-6. Sadly, Choate picked up their level at the very end, winning 6 of the last 8 points to seal the 8-5 result and the doubles point. Onto singles went the Martlets, knowing they still had a very real shot to win this match. 

The first point quickly went to the Martlets where sadly, Noah Maltby’s opponent at #5, who had battled blisters the entire doubles match was not able to play more than a few points and had to retire. Next off was Jack Pickett ‘26 at #6 singles. Playing a tricky opponent who was very consistent, this was a tough matchup for Jack especially on the backhand side. Although they had some nice points, this was a 6-1; 6-1 loss for the Martlets. Alex Brown ‘27 battled hard against a very strong opponent at #2 singles who was a perfect mix of consistent and aggressive. Alex fought hard through a tough opening set, but battled back and made good adjustments in a closer second set in this 6-0;6-3 result. Down 1-3, the Martlets knew they had to rally in hopes of the upset victory. This started with Liam Hibbard ‘27 at #1 singles. After dropping the first 2-6, the strategy utilized was to change the momentum by looking to mix up the pace. This got him an early break in the second set, which he held onto for the entire set and took it 6-4. The third set breaker was a battle, which Liam went up 8-5 before his opponent bought it back to 8-8. Two points followed which Liam won to seal a 2-6;6-4;10-8 victory in very impressive fashion. Onto the other bank of courts for #3 and 4. Will Henry ‘26 battled another consistent opponent at #4 singles. After exchanging a few breaks of serve and holding on for the 6-4 win in the first set, his opponent changed the strategy to make a few more balls and try to break down Will’s backhand. Unfortunately for the Martlets, this strategy was successful and the Choate player took the second set 6-4 and the third set breaker to seal the final team result. Not to be outdone by the team disappointment, Finn Hocking ‘26 was battling a hard hitting opponent at #3. After going down an early break, Finn started moving his opponent around the court and fought back to take the first 7-5. He was originally up a break in the second, but his opponent rallied to take the second set 6-3 and force the match to the breaker. The breaker was back and forth before Finn took the last few points to win the match 7-5;3-6;10-7. The Martlets battled hard through some windy conditions and a bit of drizzle, and went home proud of their efforts and the close team result. While it would have been great to pull out the victory, the result shows promise of what is to come this season. The Martlets have the weekend off before our first official home contest on Wednesday against Salisbury at 2:00.