The Hickman tennis team played what Coach Andy Materer called its best match of the young season in a 6-3 win over a solid Parkway West team on the Hickman courts yesterday.

But the energy needed to win their first dual of the year had the Kewpies drained heading into their second against an even better Parkway Central team in a 9-0 loss at Cosmo Park.

"It’s not like we came out and won easy in the morning. We had to fight hard to win," Materer said. "In the second match, we got beat by a better team."

Hickman (1-3) won yesterday morning’s match in less-than-stellar conditions. Cold weather and strong winds caused many Kewpies and Longhorns players to play in sweatshirts, hats and gloves. Hickman won four of the six singles matches, including Dan Fine’s 6-2, 6-0 win over Jason Gitel at No. 1 singles.

In the doubles, Fine and partner Justin Guevara fell down 6-1 before storming back to help clinch the dual with a 9-3 win over Gitel and David Dickson.

"That was the coldest, I think, I’ve ever played tennis in," Fine said. "It affects you a little at first. Your server and your normal motions are a little bit different."

It was a little bit warmer for Hickman’s afternoon match with Parkway Central (3-1), but not by much. The Nos. 1 and 2 singles matches went to third-set tiebreakers, matches that if Hickman won, Materer said, would have made the following doubles contests a little more interesting.

Fine called his 6-1 first-set win over Barry Goldenberg the best set he’s played this year. But he lost the second set 6-4 and the third-set tiebreaker, in which he surrendered three points because of double-faults, 10-3.

At No. 2 singles, Hickman’s Guevara beat Nishaad Balacharade in the opening set 7-5 before losing the remaining two 6-3 and 10-5.

"We needed to catch a break there," Materer said. "That sort of deflated us."

After sweeping the singles matches, Parkway Central had the dual wrapped up before the doubles began. And Materer said the Kewpies’ effort in those matches "wasn’t what I would have liked."

But after playing almost six hours of tennis in the cold weather, he added, that was to be expected.

Fine said that after his hard-fought singles loss to Goldenberg, his legs were "dead." And the fact that Hickman had no chance to win didn’t help, either.

"It’s hard sometimes," he said. "But I played that kid in singles, so I wanted to … sometimes it’s pride. We’re working well with the doubles, so we wanted to show we could win. Obviously, we didn’t."

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