By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
WEST NEWBURY — The North Reading High girls’ tennis team won its first two matches of the 2024 campaign on Monday and Tuesday afternoon. On Tuesday, the Hornets won at Pentucket, 4-1, up in West Newbury.
At first singles, Althea Badley won 6-0, 6-0. Senior co-captain, Vanessa Wright, won 6-2, 6-1 at second singles.
Freshman, Matilda Ton, also won in straight sets at third singles, 6-3, 6-2.
In doubles action, the first team of senior co-captain, Bhagy Bandara and Addison Stetson lost 6-2, 6-0. The second duo of Aniga Taneja and Shenaya Verma won 5-7, 7-5 and 10-3.
“We already clinched the match so we did a 10-game pro set that final set at second doubles,” explained Hornets head coach Matt Tiberii. “That was a good league win because Pentucket has a good team.”
In the season opener the day before, the Hornets blanked guest Triton, 5-0, in a match that started an hour later (5 p.m.) due to the eclipse.
“That was a nice way to start the year,” said Tiberii. “With the later start, we had to turn on the lights midway through the match.”
Bradley won 6-2, 6-1, while Wright won 6-1, 6-2.
Ton won 6-3, 6-1 at third singles.
Both doubles teams also won in straight sets as Bandara and Stetson won 6-3, 7-5, while Taneja and Verma also won 6-3, 7-5.
North Reading will have the April Vacation Week off next week, as they will not play again until April 24 when they visit Lynnfield at 4 p.m.
