Newberry, SC – The Coker Men’s Tennis narrowly lost 5-4 to Newberry College in a very close match. Newberry took a 2-1 lead after doubles before Coker fought back to lead 4-2. However, Newberry won three matches in a row themselves to earn the win.

Matt Byford and Duncan Grew got the ball rolling for Coker in what turned out to be very important doubles matches. Byford and Grew got an early break and held on for a good 8-6 win at number 1 doubles. However, Newberry bounced back to take a 2-1 lead in to singles after they won at 2 and 3 doubles.

Needing four singles wins, the Coker Men came out strong at with good play at the top three positions. Tim Morton picked up the first win as he dominated from the back of the court for a 6-3 6-3 win at number 3 singles. Duncan Grew was at his battling best as he won a tight straight-sets match at number 1 singles 7-6 7-5. Matt Byford dropped the first set 6-7 in a breaker before raising his game to close out the match 6-2 and 6-4.

Needing one more win the Cobras came desperately close. Dustin Yager lost a close match at 5 singles 7-5 6-3 and Tyson Thompson fell just short at number 6 singles despite playing some of his best tennis. The Coker Men next play conference rivals Belmont Abbey at the Coker Tennis Center this Saturday at 1p.m.

Scores

1 Doubles: Byford/Grew (Coker) def. Van Vuuren/Gates (Newberry )- 8-6

2 Doubles: Sobrinho/Kotannen (Newberry) def. Yager/Nash (Coker) – 8-5

3 Doubles: Rawlings/ Elston (Newberry) def. Morton/Thompson (Coker) – 8-2

1 Singles: Duncan Grew (Coker) def. D. Van Vuuren (Newberry) – 7-6(6) 7-5

2 Singles: Matt Byford (Coker) def.– F. Sobrinho (Newberry) – 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4

3 Singles: Tim Morton (Coker) def.– P. Popovich (Newberry) – 6-3 6-3

4 Singles: T. Rawlings (Newberry) def. Danny Nash (Coker) – 6-4 1-0 ret.

5 Singles: S. Gates (Newberry) def. Dustin Yager (Coker) – 7-5 6-3

6 Singles: O. Elston (Newberry) def.– Tyson Thompson (Coker) – 6-3 6-4