Martlets Defeat Salisbury in Thrilling Fashion

I’m getting too old for this, and I’m only 30 (ok 31…). What a day and what a match from the boys on a cold and sunny Wednesday taking on a tough, solid Salisbury team away at their track. A few shifts in the doubles lineup to see some different looks, and although we didn’t win the doubles point, everyone agreed it was far improved from last week. Parks Cuskley ‘25 and Liam Hibbard ‘27 continued their great momentum at #1, while co-captain Hugh Olson ‘25 and rookie fourth former Alex Brown ‘27 hung in there at #2 until the last few games. Credit to them for battling back and keeping us competitive. Similar story with the dual fifth form pair of Finn Hocking ‘26 and Will Henry ‘26–back and forth the entire match including an epic last game, credit to Salisbury for staying solid and getting to 8 first. Down 1-0 overall onto singles. Cuskley had a big hitting lefty which always presents different challenges for right handers, ignoring a slight dip to start the second set it was his best match of the year. Tied at 1 overall. Henry Flaton ‘25 rose to the challenge of the starting six, playing some good touch shots to keep rallies going, but fell at #5 to give Salisbury the lead again. In quick order, Olson took his match with a great balance of big hitting and smart play at #3 while Hibbard just…didn’t miss. Up overall 3-2. It was a great match from Brown, taking on a smart and savvy player at #6 who played too solid in the second half of the match, tying it up overall 3-3. Then up stepped Hocking at #4, against their fastest and steadiest senior player, who clinched it with everyone watching 10-8 in the super tiebreak. Coach needed a few laps after that one, it was an especially great boost for Hocking who had been struggling a bit in the first two weeks, but practice, practice and remaining steady paid off. The boys will be back soon on the road against another tough Pomfret team this weekend.

Singles:

1. Parks Cuskley ‘25 - 6-3, 6-3 W

2. Liam Hibbard ‘27 - 7-5, 6-2 W

3. Hugh Olson ‘25 - 7-5, 6-1 W

4. Finn Hocking ‘26 - 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 W

5. Henry Flaton ‘25 6-2, 6-2 L

6. Alex Brown ‘27 4-6, 6-1, 10-4 L

7. Jack Pickett ‘26 8-2 W

8. Steven Chun ‘25 8-1 W

Doubles:

1. Parks Cuskley ‘25/Liam Hibbard ‘27 - 8-2 W

2. Hugh Olson ‘25/Alex Brown ‘27 - 8-5 L

3. Will Henry ‘26/Finn Hocking ‘26 - 8-6 L

4. Alexei Kocatas ‘25/Noah Maltby ‘28 - 8-1 W