Having mechanical issues with the bus it was to take to Monday’s match at Camden, things got steadily worse for the Lugoff-Elgin tennis team which dropped the season opener to their cross-river rivals, 5-1, on the Roger Smoak Tennis Courts.

L-E head coach Edward Rickwood said his Demons were unable to “find their rhythm” in a match which started late due to their bus problems.

The guests picked up their lone win of the evening at first singles as Coker College signee Hunter Horton played a near-flawless match in tripping up K.P. Cassidy in a pair of 6-0 sets.

L-E sent out seventh-grader Spencer Hinton for his high school debut at second singles and Hinton dropped a 6-1, 6-3 match to Thomas Marshall. “Many long rallies played out in the first set. Many games could have gone either way, but unfortunately mostly went to Camden,” Rickwood said of a match in which Hinton took a 3-0 lead in the second set only for Marshall to rebound to win the next six games.

The visitors struggled in third, fourth and fifth singles as Camden’s Wilson Pope, Robert Lackey and Will Conder defeated Matthew Mills, Tyler Matthew and Harrison Garcia, respectively, all by 6-0, 6-0 scores.

Camden’s second doubles tandem of Mac Lindsay and Will Cox downed the Demons’ pairing of Evan Freier and Ryan Hill, 6-0, 6-1.

“This was Ryan Hill’s first official high school match. Although he has only been playing for 3 weeks, he has shown himself to be a thinker with quick feet and good hands,” Rickwood said. “This will prove useful to the team as his game develops. Today, it did little against a pair with years of doubles experience.”