ROCKINGHAM — Playing in its home opener Thursday, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ tennis team hosted Union Pines.
Part of a tough slate to begin the new season, the Raiders dropped the match to the Vikings 9-0.
The match marked the second consecutive outing by Richmond that didn’t yield a victory in singles or doubles action.
With the team still finding its footing in the early going, head coach Jessica Covington remained optimistic about future matches.
“We played another tough opponent today,” Covington said. “We’ve yet to have our top six guys all competing in the same match, and when we do, I think our scores will be a lot better.
“I’m happy with our progression,” she added. “This was a match that we could have won if everything came together. I was pleased with our doubles play. Now we just have to connect the dots to turn points into wins. We’ll get that chance next week.”
Battling the Vikings in eight-game pro sets, Richmond was led for the second straight match by No. 2 senior Matthew Leggett. In his solo competition against Tucker Lloyd, Leggett was close to victory in a 5-8 decision.
Three Raiders finished their singles matches with matching scores of 2-8. Those players were No. 1 senior Jordan Jacobs against Lane McPherson, No. 3 senior Gavin Applewhite in his match with Dominic Roett and No. 5 junior Jordan McCormick against Cam Deibel.
No. 6 sophomore Clinton Parker lost 1-8 to Sawyer Manning and No. 4 sophomore Ben Lutz was defeated 0-8 by Jace McPherson.
Scores were closer in the three doubles matches. Keeping a straight ticket down the lineup, Richmond’s top duo of Jacobs and Leggett lost to Lane McPherson and Lloyd 4-8.
The No. 2 pairing of Applewhite and Lutz came up short 3-8 in their match with Roett and Jace McPherson, and the No. 3 team of McCormick and Parker fell 2-8 to Deibel and Manning.
The Raiders (0-2, 0-2 SAC) play again next Tuesday at Lee County. The start time for singles matches is 4 p.m.
