By DAN NUNN

NORTH READING — On April 6, the NRHS boys’ tennis team opened their campaign with a strong 4-1 performance against the Amesbury Indians.

Senior Captain Jordan Hemley and sophomore Roman Ton started things off on the right foot with wins at first and second singles. At third singles freshman Raffi Toby made his debut. Unfortunately it didn’t go his way as he lost to an experienced 3rd singles player.

The doubles were a clean sweep with junior Jonathan Park teaming up with freshman Parker Lee to win in straight sets while senior captain Adin Shore and junior Aiden Patel took care of the Amesbury duo in short order.

Head coach Mark Bisognano was satisfied with the results, saying “It is always difficult conditions to play in the cold and the wind this early in the season, but I thought we handled it well. Roman and Jordan are both playing very well and if that continues I think we will be in good shape.”

Beat Pentucket 5-0

The Hornets opened up their road schedule with a dominant 5-0 victory at Pentucket on April 11.

With the same line up as the opening match, North Reading didn’t drop a set at any position in the shutout win. Raffi Toby got his first varsity win in straight sets.

At first doubles, Park and Lee dug themselves into a 2-5 hole in the first set only to win the next 5 games and take the set 7-5. They kept the momentum going and won the second set 6-2.

Edged by Newburyport

The Hornets’ two match winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Newburyport Clippers who defeated NRHS by a tight 3-2 margin on April 12.

Hemley and Ton remained undefeated at 1st and 2nd singles respectively. Raffi Toby lost to another experienced 3rd singles player.

This match was going to come down to doubles. It came down to 1st doubles after the newly formed team of Adin Shore and sophomore Alex DeWolfe lost in straight sets. The NR duo of Park and Lee lost the first set, but came back to level the match at 1 set apiece. The third set was nip and tuck the whole way, but it was Newburyport who pulled it out with a 7-5 win.

“Both teams played excellent tennis in the third set, but unfortunately the big points did not go our way. We knew this would be a close match as they essentially returned their whole team and we played a very close match last year. We will see them again down the road and we hope to have the next one go our way,” said Bisognano.

The Hornets are 3-3 overall with a trip to Lynnfield coming on Thursday.