ROCHELLE — Junior Noah Griffith’s return to the Hubs varsity tennis lineup helped Rochelle pick up its first point of the season on Tuesday, but Griffith’s victory wouldn’t be enough for the purple and white to overthrow the Ottawa Pirates at Rochelle Township High School.

The Hubs lost the match 4-1 at the varsity level, with Griffith topping Ottawa junior Jack Marvel by a score of 6-2, 6-3. Junior Kevin Zheng competed in No. 2 singles for Rochelle, putting some solid serves together against Pirate senior Wyatt Anderson but falling 1-6, 0-6.

With both teams tied 1-1, the team match turned to doubles play, with senior Bryan Garcia and sophomore Hector Garcia taking the court for Rochelle in No. 1 doubles and fighting a tough battle against Ottawa duo Stas Cheli and Nate Meyer but losing 2-6, 0-6. Sophomores Juan Montemayor and Chris Jones teamed up for the Hubs in No. 2 doubles against Pirate seniors Andrew Felty and Mason Kannel, with Ottawa taking the match 0-6, 1-6.

Juniors Ozzy Fulgencio and Tyler Nalley faced Ottawa senior Riley Maguire and junior Brett Gallagher in No. 3 doubles, with Maguire and Gallagher winning by clean sweep (0-6, 0-6) to help the Pirates take all three doubles points on Tuesday. The loss drops Rochelle to 0-2 on the season and 0-1 in the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference.

Frosh/Soph

The Rochelle freshman-sophomore tennis team fell by a score of 5-0 to Ottawa on Tuesday, with sophomore Emilio Nava taking four games against Logan Olszewki but falling by a final score of 4-8. Freshmen Gabriel Nava and Saul Alanis had a strong showing in No. 3 doubles, winning five games but coming just short in a 5-8 loss to Pirate duo Sam Barron and Austin Gayan.