A young Mathews High School girls’ tennis team lost to the Rappahannock Raiders, 8-1, last Thursday on Mathews’ home courts.

Mathews returned only two girls from last year’s team that played in the state finals, while Rappahannock returned all players from a 2016 team that made it to the Region 1A East semifinals.

Top-seeded player Madelyn Johnson played a tough match and was up early, 4-1, but a skilled Connor Pemberton came back and won, 8-5. Chloe Sanderson, who played number two, brought home the Blue Devils’ only win of the day. She battled Katelin Brann, using a strategy of patience and keeping the ball in play, to win, 8-2.

Sophomore Sarah Brown, playing at number three, had many exceptional points against Carlie Pemberton, but could not string together enough points to win a game, and lost, 8-0. Senior Ali Haynes played well at number four against Laura Ambrose, who proved to be more consistent over the length of the match. Haynes lost to Ambr...