ROCKINGHAM — Making the penultimate appearance in The Richmond Observer’s Top Sports Stories review of the 2024-25 school year is the Richmond Senior High boys’ tennis team.
Led by head coach Jessica Covington, the Raiders battled through a tough Sandhills Athletic Conference schedule all season. Their hard work paid off when the team qualified for the NCHSAA 4A dual team state playoffs.
Using a lineup mixed with veteran starters and some newcomers, the Raiders slid into the 4A East bracket as the No. 32 team.
Although Richmond didn’t advance past the first round, the Raiders did clinch their third straight playoff appearance, a feat that Covington was really proud of the team for accomplishing.
Read more from the original article posted April 29, 2025 below:
No. 32 Raiders exit playoffs in first round
DURHAM — The Richmond Senior High School boys’ tennis team achieved a program milestone with its match Monday.
For the first third straight year under the direction of head coach Jessica Covington, the Raiders competed in the NCHSAA 4A dual team state playoffs.
Qualifying as the No. 32 team in the 4A East bracket, Richmond traveled to No. 1 Jordan High School. Despite a strong effort by the Raiders, they fell 9-0 and were eliminated.
“At the beginning of the season, our goal was to make the playoffs,” Covington said. “We knew we had a great team this year with a lot of experience and all of the hard work paid off for the guys. I am so proud of each of our players for sticking to that goal and making it a reality.
“We knew that facing a team like Jordan was going to be a tough task,” she continued. “But the guys never wavered and gave it their all. Everyone was competitive and that’s all I could ask for. Hopefully our seniors enjoyed this experience and it will be something our returning players hope to achieve again.”
Representing the Raiders were No. 1 senior Jordan Jacobs, No. 2 senior Matthew Leggett, No. 3 senior Gavin Applewhite, No. 4 senior Billy West, No. 5 senior Jordan McCormick and No. 6 sophomore Ben Lutz.
In singles action, each Raider lost his respective match by identical scores of 0-6, 0-6.
Richmond got on the board in doubles play with the No. 1 pairing of Jacobs and Leggett and the No. 3 duo of McCormick and Lutz.
Jacobs and Leggett fell 5-8 in their match, while McCormick and Lutz came up short 3-8. Applewhite and West were shut out 0-8.
The Raiders finished the season with a 5-6 overall record, but the season isn’t entirely over for two of the players.
Jacobs and Leggett qualified for the NCHSAA 4A Mideast regional tournament as a doubles team earlier this month at the Sandhills Athletic Conference tournament. The two seniors will return to Jordan High School to compete May 2 and 3.
