The breeze didn’t blow in favor of the Concord boys’ tennis team at their season opener against a powerful Dover squad.
The Dover Green Wave swept through the Crimson Tide in singles, winning the windy match early and finishing 8-1.
The highlight of the afternoon for Concord was a promising 8-4 win by freshmen No. 3 doubles pair Sam Lewis and Eli Paddleford over Dover senior John Tran and junior Aidan McCann.
The duo, which head coach Kevin Parsons hopes will be a mainstay for the next four years, won its serves and got well-executed breaks with Lewis anchoring the backcourt and Paddleford contributing at the net.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever had two freshmen in the starting lineup playing doubles together,” Parsons said. “And competing also in the singles and having the skillset to do that.”
Overall, he was happy with the team’s attitude and their improvement from last year. Despite the final scoreline, the Tide was trending up by winning more games against this Dover team than last season with a much younger team.
Singles: Dover 6, Concord 0
No. 1 Senior Diego Lopez defeated senior Martin Pennington, 8-2
No. 2 Freshman Matias Lopez defeated senior Jonathan Kleiner, 8-1
No. 3 Senior Evan Weete defeated freshman Sam Lewis, 8-4
No. 4 Senior Gavin Beauregard defeated sophomore Keegen Wade, 8-0
No. 5 Senior John Tran defeated freshman Eli Paddleford, 8-5
No. 6 Junior Aidan McCann defeated senior Bennet Cyr, 9-7
Doubles: Dover 2, Concord 1
No. 1 Lopez/Lopez defeated Pennington/Kleiner, 8-2
No. 2 Weete/Beauregard defeated Wade/junior Will Bailey, 8-2
No. 3 Lewis/Paddleford defeated Tran/McCann, 8-4
Concord No. 1, senior Martin Pennington, returns a service in his singles match against Dover. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP / Monitor 
Concord senior Jonathan Kleiner laser focused for his No. 2 singles match against Dover’s Matias Lopez. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP / Monitor 
Concord sophomore Keegen Wade serves against Dover’s Gavin Beauregard in the Tide’s season opener. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP / Monitor 
Senior Bennet Cyr battled hard in No. 6 singles but fell in a tightly contested match, 9-7, against Dover’s Aidan McCann. Credit: ALEXANDER RAPP / Monitor