ROCKINGHAM — Showing little rust Wednesday, the Richmond Senior High School boys’ tennis team cracked into the win column.
Ending a weeklong break between matches, and a four-match skid to start the season, the Raiders earned victories in both ends of a doubleheader with Southern Lee High School.
Richmond defeated the Cavaliers 6-0 in both matches. No doubles matches were played.
“This was a really great outing for everyone,” head coach Jessica Covington said. “Our mindset today was to control each match and I think the guys did that really well. Being able to sweep all the singles matches really gave us a confidence boost.
“It was also nice to get in the win column as a team,” she added. “The guys have worked hard all season and have played some tough competition to this point. Today was rewarding for them, especially for the ones who were able to get their first singles wins.”
All six of Richmond’s singles players earned a pair of wins — seniors Jordan Jacobs, Matthew Leggett, Gavin Applewhite, Billy West, Jordan McCormick and sophomore Ben Lutz.
Jacobs, Leggett and Applewhite each recorded their team-leading second and third singles victories of the season. West, McCormick and Lutz all entered the win column with a pair of wins.
No. 4 West and No. 5 McCormick both defeated his respective opponent by matching scores of 8-0 in both matches. West defeated Laith Jamil and McCormick swept Gustavo Rivera.
In the No. 1 matches, Jacobs rolled to victories of 8-0 and 8-2 against Kai Williby. No. 3 Applewhite had the same scores but in reverse order, 8-2 and 8-0, in his two wins over Kaiden Postawko.
Completing the sweep for the Raiders were No. 2 Leggett and No. 6 Lutz. In his pair of matches with Brayden Shuey, Leggett cruised to wins of 8-3 and 8-0. Lutz took care of business with victories of 8-2 and 8-2 over Ethan Lawrence.
The Raiders (2-4, 2-4 Sandhills Athletic Conference) will continue their three-match week Thursday at home against Lee County High School.
Richmond will try to even its season series with the Yellow Jackets. Singles matches will start at 4 p.m.
