Belmont High School Girls’ Tennis first met Melrose High back on a cold, windy day early in April and came away with a 4 to 1 win over the Red Raiders.

And the Middlesex League opponent was back again, yesterday, Thursday, May 29, this time in the first round of the Div. 2 North Sectionals playoffs.

And while it was a bit warmer nearly eight weeks later, the results of the five matches improved for the Marauders as Belmont (12-4) defeated Melrose, 5-0, to advance to the quarterfinals which will be held at Belmont.

Senior Annie Hang (first singles), sophomores Amanda Jung (second singles) and Nina Pellegrini (third singles) and the teams of junior Haley Sawyer and sophomore Sarah Paolillo (first doubles) and seniors Alexa Analetto and Amy Zhang (second doubles) had relatively easy matches against their Melrose opponents in their wins, said Belmont Head Coach Eileen White.

“We were looking for consistency, that was the goal, and we did have more of that today,” said White.

As for the next opponent, there is a likelihood that Belmont will meet League rivals Reading High which holds a share of the Middlesex League division title with the Marauders.

“I’m excited for Reading,” said White.

“We split with them during the season with each match 3-2 so they were very tight. We lost to them here and I was not pleased with that result,” she said.