Matt Harrelson
ROCKINGHAM - After losing a close match 5-4 against Jack Britt High School before the spring break layoff, the Raiders boys tennis came back from break with a bang, defeating Hoke County High School 9-0 on Tuesday afternoon at home.
No. 1 singles player Austin Harrington won in straight sets over his counterpart 6-2, 6-0, and No. 2 player Jimmy Cooley battled back in his first set down 4-1 to eventually win 7-5, 6-4.
Moving down the singles list, every other Raider also finished in straight sets with Miles Harrington winning 6-3, 6-1, No. 4 Kristofer Spivey 6-1, 6-4, Jose Jaramillo 6-0, 6-2 and Bradford Pittman 6-1, 6-0 to round out the top five.
"It was a great day for us coming back from spring break," said head coach Patrick Hope. "Jimmy battled back from being down 4-1 to win his first set, and the twins withstood a comeback from Hoke in doubles to pull out their 8-6 win."
The twins Hope was referring to are the Harrington brothers, who took the first doubles match 8-6, followed by the team of Kevin Campos and Ben Morrison winning the No. 2 doubles 8-4. Mason Bailey and Caleb Brewer in No. 3 doubles finished off the shutout with a 8-0 victory.
Hope feels like with this win, his team can build some momentum as the season begins to wind down into the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament.
"With the conference tournament two weeks away I feel as a team we should be able to compete with anyone remaining on the schedule," he said. "A goal of mine was to beat any of the top three teams in the conference. We'll get our first shot Thursday."
The Raiders will, of course, be back on the court Thursday when they hit to road to face Lumberton High School at 4 p.m. The last time the two teams met, it came down to two doubles for the last point.
