By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
NORTH READING — Last spring, the North Reading High girls’ tennis team reached the MIAA Division 3 quarterfinals before falling to Wayland to end the year at 12-11 overall.
The Hornets knocked off Boston Latin Academy and Belchertown in the first two rounds.
In the Cape Ann League, they came in third place in the Kinney Division going 7-6.
North Reading lost four seniors from that roster to graduation: Alyssa Bradley, Mary Bonzagni.,Chloe Florez and Katherine Hoadle. All four were starters.
When practiced started on March 18, sixth-year head coach Matt Tiberii welcomed back seven veterans with three of them being starters.
Three of those veterans are this year’s tri-captains: seniors Bhagy Bandra and Vanessa Wright and junior Althea Bradley, who is Alyssa’s younger sister.
Bandara is a doubles player, while Wright will be playing second singles this season. Bradley is the team’s number-one singles player.
The four other players back are Aniya Tennja (junior), Addison Stetson (junior), Sheneya Verma (sophomore) and Katrina Mountain (junior).
“The first week was tough with the weather,” admitted Tiberii, about the opening week of practice. “We had some rain and it was cold.”
One new player that emerged last week is freshman Matilda Ton who is slated to play at third singles.
North Reading will play 18 regular-season matches as they will play 13 league matches and five non-league schools. The five non-league opponents will be North Andover, Bishop Fenwick, Malden Catholic, Methuen and Stoneham.
According to Tiberii, Newburyport is still the team to beat in the CAL Kinney this year.
“The top teams in our league are the best in the state in any league besides the Dual County League,” stated Tiberii as Newburyport won the Division 3 state title last year while Hamilton-Wenham beat Manchester-Essex for the Division 4 state crown.
The Hornets open the season on April 4 as they host Stoneham at 4 p.m. On April 5, the Hornets play their first league match as they visit Pentucket, also at 4 p.m.