ORLANDO, Fla. – Maryville concluded its Spring Break trip to Florida with two wins over four consecutive days of matches. The Scots fell 5-2 Wednesday night to a hot Otterbein squad that has now won seven in a row.
James Smith was a bright spot for MC, winning at both the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles positions. He played alongside
Field Myatt in doubles and the duo produced a 6-2 triumph to get the match started. It was not enough, however, as Otterbein took the doubles point. The Cardinals won 6-4 at No. 2 over
Eli Cauthorn and
Jackson Meyer and then pulled out a 7-6 (7-2) nailbiter at No. 3 over
Gabriel Villalonga Serra and Luke Romano.
In singles,
Luka Romano added to Maryville's tally with a 6-1, 6-3 triumph at No. 3. Otterbein took four singles victories to clinch the match before Smith closed it out with a hard-fought 7-5, 7-5 win for Maryville at No. 1 singles.
"That was a good opponent we played today, but it definitely felt like a missed opportunity to seize some momentum from doubles," Scots head coach Doug Corbett said. "Otterbein was a stronger singles team and exposed some things for us to work on. Many of them had a similar style of play, giving us fits."
Smith improved to 6-2 in dual match singles this season and 4-4 in doubles. All eight of those singles matches have come at the No. 1 position. Luka Romano improved to 4-4 in singles, including a 3-1 mark at the No. 3 position.
"James continues to be workman like and Luka is getting better and better giving us some strength and steadiness at the top of the lineup," Corbett said.
The Scots went 2-2 over their four days of play against outstanding competition and stand 5-4 for the season. Otterbein improved to 9-4.
Maryville is off until playing at Truett McConnell in Georgia on March 21. The Scots return to CCS play the next day, March 22, with a match at Piedmont.
