Martlets Drop Tight Match to Lions

The Martlets traveled to Kent,CT to take on Kent in what was always going to be a competitive match. The Martlets started a bit slow in the doubles point with all of the matches at one point being down a break. #3 doubles saw Crosby Cutler ‘27 and Xavier Kahn ‘27 go down a break early, but fight back to level the match at 6-6. A break and hold saw them pull out the 8-6 win. Will Henry ‘26 and Noah Maltby ‘28 started slow and never fully got going in an 8-3 loss. Liam Hibbard ‘27 and Alex Brown ‘27 played a back and forth match where they were up a break, then down a break, then battled to a 7-6 lead on Alex’s serve. A long game saw the hosts take it and the next one, before Liam held to force the 8-8 tiebreak. We started slow in the tiebreak and never recovered, sealing what turned to be a crucial doubles point for Kent. In singles, Daniel Frid ‘27 played a tough opponent and was not feeling his best, in a 6-2;6-0 loss. Liam Hibbard ‘27 got the Martlets on the board with a 6-1;6-1 win at #1 singles. Will Henry ‘27 followed with a 6-3;6-2 win at #3 singles. Xavier Kahn ‘27 won a gritty match at #6 singles which put us on the verge of victory. After taking a tight first 6-4, he dropped the second by the same scoreline. He won a competitive tiebreak 10-6 to put the Martlets one position away from victory. Sadly, we could not capitalize on this opportunity. Alex Brown ‘27 played a very similar player to himself and lost a competitive encounter 6-4;6-2. Noah Maltby ‘27 broke early to build a 5-4 lead, but dropped the first set 5-7. He got up a break again in the second, and won some tight games to serve out a 6-4 win. The breaker was back and forth, and saw him up 7-6, down 7-8, up 9-8, then finally losing 9-11 to seal the match for the home team. In an overall match of missed opportunities and slow starts, the Martlets hope to start stronger in the New England League Class B Quarterfinal on Saturday, where we will be playing at home at 9:30. Grit and Grace award of the day goes to Xavier Kahn for his gritty singles/doubles victories.