Martlets Defeat Gunn

Fourth match in six days! On a beautiful and hot early afternoon home match against Frederick Gunn and Coach Leathers, a short-handed Martlet squad competed relatively well in nearly all spots, earning a 6-1 win overall against a much improved FG team. Doubles had lots of great points, especially from seniors Henry Flaton ‘25/Alexei Kocatas ‘25 who raced away for the win at #3. Finn Hocking ‘26 bumped up to the #1 spot with Liam Hibbard ‘27 and the two played some excellent, complementary doubles to take the set 8-5. Will Henry ‘26 and Alex Brown ‘27 also played great, especially in the middle half of the set, but credit to FG for turning it around to force a tiebreak and didn’t miss to win at #2. Up 1-0 overall heading into singles. Hibbard, Brown and Kocatas got off the ground running in their first sets, with Hibbard and Brown staying super solid throughout and winning at #1 and #3. Will Henry got it back after a not ideal start to the match, winning 6-4, 6-1 at #5. Credit to Frederick Gunn at #4 for turning the match around against Kocatas in the last one to finish, but our co-captain clutched up, matching some great shots and putting two first serves in play to take the super 10-7. Our grit and grace winner of the day, however, goes to Flaton! Battling the heat, a consistent player, bad blisters, he stayed on court as long as needed to claim the point at #6 and get us over the line. Young one Noah Maltby ‘28 also showcased his improvement with excellent serving and improved doubles, joined by master of steadiness and call-up Daniel Frid ‘27. It was also an amazing match environment with several parents and families present–we know it is sometimes hard to get to campus and watch the boys play, but we especially appreciated the turnout and cheerleading from the sidelines. A much deserved actual weekend for the crew with an optional hit on Monday, the crew will be back in action hosting Taft on Wednesday.

Singles:

1. Liam Hibbard ‘27 - 6-2, 6-0 W

2. Finn Hocking ‘26 - 6-2, 6-2 L

3. Alex Brown ‘27 - 6-0, 6-3 W

4. Alexei Kocatas ‘25 - 6-3, 4-6, 10-7 W

5. Will Henry ‘26 - 6-4, 6-1 W

6. Henry Flaton ‘25 - 6-0, 6-2 W

7. Noah Maltby ‘28 - 8-1 W

Doubles:

1. Finn Hocking ‘26/Liam Hibbard ‘27 - 8-5 W

2. Will Henry ‘26/Alex Brown ‘27 - 8-7 L

3. Henry Flaton ‘25/Alexei Kocatas ‘25 - 8-2 W

4. Daniel Frid ‘27/Noah Maltby ‘28 - 8-1 W