ROCKINGHAM — In action for the second time in as many days, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ tennis team earned its second win to start the spring season.
The Raiders and head coach Patrick Hope hosted Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Purnell Swett High School on Tuesday, and defeated the Rams 6-3.
The three-match win followed up a sweep of Seventy-First High School on Monday to begin the season.
“We had a lot more consistency today,” Hope noted after the win. “We stepped up in the level of play with Seventy-First being more developmental and Purnell Swett having guys who have experience.
“It gave our kids an opportunity to see how a realistic match is going to go,” he added. “They were able to overcome some things individually, and I’m really happy with the team’s camaraderie. The guys were interested and checked to see how each other was doing.”
Richmond would take the majority of match wins in the singles and doubles competitions. In singles, the Raiders won four of the six matches, seeing the No. 3 through No. 6 seeds earn an individual victory.
Two of the three doubles matches would go in Richmond’s favor, as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeded duos picked up wins for the second day in a row.
Junior Alex Yates started the win tally in the No. 3 match, defeating Cale Harris 8-6 following a prorated match format. Following him with a win in the No. 4 contest was senior Lee Hayden, who made quick work against Damien Locklear 8-2 in his high school tennis debut.
Rounding out the four wins in the singles tournament were No. 5 freshman Ty Murray and No. 6 junior Mack West. Murray blanked Tucker Lowry 8-0 in his match, while West also kept Gabriel Scott off the board in an 8-0 sweep.
Richmond’s No. 1 seed Bradford Pittman and No. 2 seed Karym Ojeda faced tough competition in Ben Brooks and Erik Brooks, respectively. Ojeda went down 2-8 in his match, while Pittman battled a marathon match with Ben Brooks, ultimately falling 5-8.
“Our back end is getting more comfortable in how a match is going to go,” Hope said of the three through six seeds. “Ty and Mack have played well for two days, Lee got his first opportunity to play and opened up a tight start later in his match, and Alex has also had success.
“Bradford and Karym play in the first two seeds and they have to get used to playing the top players on each team every time they go on the court,” he added. “Their games will improve as they continue to read other players.”
In the No. 2 doubles match, Ojeda and Yates teamed up to take down Harris and Locklear by a final tally of 8-4. Also getting a doubles win was the freshman pairing of Murray and Ethan McDonald, who held Lowry and Scott scoreless in an 8-0 decision.
Ben and Erik Brooks overcame an early deficit to defeat Pittman and Hayden 8-5 for the Rams’ (1-1, 1-1 SAC) final win of the afternoon.
The Raiders (2-0, 2-0 SAC) will return to the court on Thursday and put their perfect record on the line against perennial powerhouse Pinecrest High School (1-0, 1-0 SAC). Singles matches will start at 4 p.m.
“Pinecrest is one of the top teams year in and year out,” Hope said. “Hopefully we learn some things from playing them. But we’re going to go out and play as hard as we can.
“We can’t be afraid of the brand,” he closed. “If we play just like we have these first two matches and not put any special spin on it because it’s Pinecrest, we’ll improve.”
