Hopkinton Boys Tennis Knocks Off Norton

Hopkinton boys tennis got an important win Monday afternoon when it knocked off  4-1 at . 

The victory improved the Hillers to 4-5 overall and 4-4 in the Tri-Valley League. Norton is now 4-6 in matches that count toward the tournament and 2-6 in the TVL.

“All the wins are big,” said Hopkinton coach Mike Miller. “When you are scratching and clawing to get to .500, every one is important.

"And there are no easy wins in this league," Miller said. "But the kids are playing with a lot more confidence."

Miller said the team is taking a look at what players did the first time against TVL teams to try to put itself in advantageous position the second time around. 

Hopkinton sophomore Greg Brown earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Norton senior Paul Southworth for a point at second singles. Norton tied the match at 1-1 when junior Mike Adler defeated Hiller sophomore Josh Perez, 6-3 and 6-2 at third singles.

Hopkinton took the next three matches for its 4-1 victory.

Hillers senior Finn Burke and junior Rory O’Riordan defeated Norton senior Brian Ahern and junior Kolin Campbell 6-2 and 6-4 at second doubles. 

Hopkinton senior Andy Miller clinched the match when he defeated Norton junior P.J. Levesque 6-2 and 6-3 at first singles. Levesque injured an ankle in the second set but toughed it out to finish.

At first doubles, Norton senior captains Rob Southworth and Drew Burke won the first set over juniors Phil Cok and Evan Dackowski 6-4, but the Hillers rebounded 6-3 and 7-5 to win.

“This was a big missed opportunity for us to get a win,” said Norton coach Cortney Greene. The Lancers fell to the Hillers 3-2 earlier in the season at Hopkinton. 

“Overall the kids need to work on when they get behind in their matches that they need to do a better job of not getting frustrated and being able to come back," Greene said. "We need to work on our mental toughness."

Hopkinton will host Holliston Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. on the courts in front of the schools.  As of this writing, Holliston is at .500 with three wins and three losses in the TVL.

Because of rain makeups, Holliston will play Ashland this afternoon. Holliston has games every afternoon this week.

Natick will visit Hopkinton in a non-league match Friday afternoon at 3:30.

Hopkinton girls tennis is at Dover-Sherborn this afternoon at 3:45 and at Holliston Wednesday afternoon same time.

Click here for a complete Hopkinton school sports schedule for the rest of the week.