G.J. McCarthy photo

Hickman Coach Andy Materer, right, works with Brandon Page on his footwork during a 5-4 loss to Helias yesterday at Hickman.

In the days leading up to his first match as coach of the Hickman boys tennis team, Andy Materer said he was too nervous to eat.

If many more of the Kewpies’ matches go like their 5-4 loss to Helias last night, Materer might survive on a diet of fingernails alone.

Materer was pleased with how his team competed but said there is still a lot of work to do. Hickman (0-1) led 4-2 after singles play but dropped all three doubles matches.

"We need match toughness. … We’ve got all the basic skills, but you can only build match toughness and confidence from playing matches and winning," said Materer, who replaced Jerry Price. "We were hoping to pick up a win to get some of that confidence, but it’s a long season and we’ve got lots of matches and you can learn a lot from losing as long as you work on improving."

G.J. McCarthy photo

Hickman’s No. 2 player Justin Guevara hits a shot against Helias’ Michael LeRoy, who won 6-2, 6-2.

No. 2 singles player Justin Guevara began cramping during his 6-2, 6-2 loss to Michael LeRoy and had to sit out of the doubles match. Materer had to make an emergency phone call to get Lin Fan, his No. 7 player, to Hickman to pair with Dan Fine. Fan and Fine almost pulled off an upset of the Crusaders’ top two players, Tony Stephenson and LeRoy, but fell 7-5, 6-4.

In his first match as Hickman’s No. 1, Fine defeated Stephenson 6-4, 6-3. Fine is replacing Omeed Latifi, who reached state last year.

"He’s got an unusual game," Materer said. "Most people are baseliners nowadays, and he’s an aggressive volleyer. He comes to the net and he volleys. He also uses a slice backhand, so he’s got, like, a full game.

"He’s got a lot of potential, and he’s started to fulfill it."

While the Kewpies lost Latifi to graduation, they lost his younger brother, Eemaun Latifi, to Rock Bridge. Eemaun Latifi was Hickman’s No. 3 player last season as a freshman. Because of transfer rules, Eemaun Latifi won’t be able to play varsity tennis for the Bruins until next season.

"That hurt us," Materer said. "When it happened, we learned about it in the summer and it was a blow for our guys, but they’ve bounced back from it. … Now we’re just finding out what we have. We’ll find out how we do without the Latifis. We don’t know yet, but we’re certainly going to play hard."

The Latifis also formed Hickman’s top doubles team last season, but now that spot belongs to Fine and Guevara. Materer believes the seniors can form a tough tandem.

"They’ve got an outside shot of maybe making state in doubles," Materer said. "They work well together."

At No. 3, Hickman’s Cody Hogan lost 7-5, 6-1 to Alex Tungesvik. The Kewpies won the bottom three singles matches. Brandon Page beat David Landuehr 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4, Sang Chung defeated Sam Ott 7-5, 6-4 at No. 5 and Alex Turner won a grueling 2-6, 6-4 (10-5) victory over Adam Archer.

"We’ve got good depth in our lineup," Materer said. "We’re looking to win No. 4, 5, and 6. If we get a win at No. 1, that’s great, if we get a win up front, but we’re really focusing on our depth as a team.

"We’re not going to run away 9-0 with any matches. They know that they’re going to have to go the distance and scrape and scrap to win."

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