By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
NORTH READING — North Reading High boys’ tennis coach Mark Bisognano handed out three individual awards during the school’s recent awards night.
The Coaches Award went to sophomore Parker Lee while the Unsung Hero Award went to fellow sophomore Raffi Toby.
Junior, Roman Ton received the team’s MVP Award.
“Parker was the third or fourth best second-singles player in the league,” said Bisognano. “He was a steady influence on the team.”
Lee was 9-6 at second doubles and he went 1-1 at first singles this spring.
Toby started the season at singles but played mostly at doubles this year as he went 10-4 with three different partners.
“He was a key player for us who ended up having a lot of success in doubles,” said Bisognano.
Ton played first singles for the first time this spring as he was at second singles the past two seasons.
“He is a solid player who has improved each year,” said Bisognano, as Ton went 9-7 this season. “He has especially improved at serving and is good with his ground strokes.”
The Hornets were edged, 3-2, at Cape Cod Academy in the first round of the Division 3 state tournament on June 1 to end the year at 10-9.
In the Cape Ann League, North Reading finished 5-6 as they came in third place in the CAL Kinney Division.
They will lose three seniors to graduation, Ruari Maynes, Jonathan Park, and Isaac Liang. Park, a captain, was a starter at first doubles while Maynes and Liang both saw action off the bench at doubles.
“Jonathan and Ruari were with me all three years and showed a lot of leadership,” said Bisognano, who just finished his 22nd-year at the helm. “I felt bad that they had to miss their freshman year due to Covid. Isaac was with us just this year and I wish he joined us earlier in his career.”
Next year, the team is slated to return nine veterans with Park being the lone starter not back.
“We return, basically, the same team as this year,” said Bisognano. “I am very optimistic about how we will do.”