FAYETTEVILLE - The Richmond Raiders boys tennis team was on the road Tuesday at Jack Britt High School, and although head coach Pat Hope saw definite improvement from his squad, the Raiders fell 8-1 to the Buccaneers.
No. 1 singles player Austin Harrington fell in straight sets 6-0, 6-3, followed by his twin brother Miles suffering the same fate in the battle of number twos.
However, it wasn't all doom and gloom for the Raiders as No. 5 freshman Bradford Pittman was able to defeat his Bucs opponent 6-3, 6-2 for Richmond's only match win.
"Bradford has been a surprise over these last two matches. He may be the most consistent player we have had so far," said Hope.
As far as the doubles matches, the Harrington brothers lost 8-4, and the second team of Pittman and Jose Jaramillo were put down 8-3. But Hope has just that, hope, that his team will continue to improve and that's exactly what he saw from his young team against a difficult Buccaneers squad.
"There were some bright spots seen in all nine matches. A lot of our progress has been on the fly due to limited practice time and the weather," Hope said of his underclassmen-laden team. "We're also playing against a lot of experienced and skilled players, especially in the top three singles.
"Three of our top six are ninth and tenth graders," Hope concluded. "So, they have a lot of tennis ahead of them."
The Raiders will hop right back into Sandhills Athletic Conference play when they take on Hoke County High School at 4 p.m. on Wednesday in Raeford.
