It was a battle of mental strength at many times as balls were behaving wildly in powerful winds. The match began with singles because of there being no women’s match and it was Erskine who came out strongest. Erskine took straight sets victories at numbers 3 through 6 singles to earn four singles wins. However, Coker would not collapse thanks to some excellent tennis from Duncan Grew and Matt Byford who fought back strong for the Cobras.
At number 1 singles, Duncan Grew came from a set down to earn an excellent three set victory. After dropping the first set 6-3, Grew came back with grit and determination to edge a narrow second set 7-6. It was all to play for in the third as the winds picked up once again. It was Grew who took advantage by breaking serve at 3-2 in the final set. Grew stayed composed to serve out the win 6-4 in the final set.
The other singles victory for Coker came from Matt Byford who wasted no time in an emphatic performance. After losing serve in his opening service game, Byford regained focus and went on a four game run. After serving out the first set 6-3, Byford went on to serve well and close off the net in the gusty winds to earn a comfortable straight sets win.
Trailing 4-2 from singles, Coker required all three doubles matches to earn the win. Byford and Grew opened at 1 doubles and jumped in to an early lead 4-1. They did not drop serve from that point and closed out an 8-5 win. At 2 doubles, Danny Nash and Dustin Yager played well and took the early lead. The match went to the wire until 8-7 when Coker earned the break of serve to take a good 9-7 win. At 3 doubles, Coker was to fall just short. Morton and Thompson took the early lead but Erskine got the valuable break of serve at 6-5 in the set. Erskine held serve to take an 8-5 win and the overall match 5-4.
Once again it was heartache for Coker, who have now lost three matches 5-4 this season and fall to 3-12 on the year. The Coker Men next play conference rivals
Scores
1 Doubles: Byford/Grew (Coker) def. Lambon/Jayakumar (Erskine)- 8-5
2 Doubles: Yager/Nash (Coker) def. Zingales/Harrar (Erskine) – 9-7
3 Doubles: Padron/Gregory (Erskine) def. Morton/Thompson (Coker) – 8-5
1 Singles:
2 Singles: Matt Byford (Coker) def. John Jayakumar (Erskine) – 6-3 6-4
3 Singles:
4 Singles: Sammy Zingales (Erskine) def. Danny Nash (Coker) – 6-2 6-2
5 Singles: Simeon Harrar (Erskine) def. Dustin Yager (Coker) – 7-5 6-3
6 Singles: Jacob Gregory (Erskine) def.– Tyson Thompson (Coker) – 6-3 6-4
Order of Completion: 2,4,3,6,5,1