Milford's Brady O'Connor watches his return during the No. 1 doubles match vs. Hollis Brookline in Tuesday's season opener at Longfellow Tennis Club in Nashua. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Players were milling around in the lobby of the Longfellow Tennis Club on Tuesday.

Television monitors were showing the action on all the indoor courts.

They captured a look at history.

Yes, while it seemed like your average high school season opener, yesterday’s 9-0 win for Hollis Brookline was the first boys tennis match for its opponent, Milford, since 2018.

For the Spartans, it wasn’t about the score. It was about the event just taking place.

“It felt good to come together as a team and compete,” Milford’s No. 1 singles and doubles player Will Emerson said. “It’s a good feeling. We haven’t had tennis for such a long time. It’s cool to finally have a new sport to compete and to play. And especially not playing against your teammates in challenge matches. It’s a lot more fun.”

“I think it’s really special for Milford High School,” Spartans head coach Kate Emerson, who spent the school year reviving the program. “There’s so much we can do to engage kids, and this is something that’s been missing. It’s been a void. These boys are eager to help me fill the void.”

“It felt surreal,” Cavs coach Celestino Sepulveda, who noted he came to HB a year ago as an assistant because that program was in jeopardy due to a hard search for coaches. “It’s a fantastic thing for the community and for these student athletes to have access to tennis. At Hollis Brookline we’re a no-cut tennis program, and equally at Milford. It’s better for the development of the players and for the coaches.”

The Cavs have eight back from last year, and only No. 1 singles player Sam Anthony knew that the Spartans were basically starting over as a program, so there was no overconfidence in a match in which Milford only took five games Emerson gave his friend Anthony a battle before bowing 8-4.

The Cavs’ Arjun Inakollu, John Torpey, Dylan Legrow and Greyson McSeveney all won 8-0, besting Spartans Brady O’Connor, Huseyin Alperen, Tyler Constable and Marcus Kern, before Milford’s James Crawford managed a game win vs. HB’s Eli Mazzola in Mazzola’s 8-1 triumph at No. 6.

Doubles all went the same 8-0 way.

“Fantastic,” Sepulveda said of how he felt his team played. “They were feeling some nerves early on but settled in, found some confidence and we’ll seek to build on that as we move forward in the season.”

Hollis Brookline’s Sam Anthony hits a return during Tuesday’s season opener vs. Milford at Longfellow Tennis Club in Nashua. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

But of course Tuesday’s wasn’t really about the result, but more about the fact that for one team it simply took place.

“These boys two weeks ago, many of them didn’t know how to keep score,” Emerson said. “Or know where to stand. They all just played in their first high school tennis match, and they did wonderfully. I’m super proud of them.”

And the good news for the Spartans is there are many more matches to come, although Mother Nature may put a brief halt to the season for the rest of the week.

“Nothing like spring tennis,” Emerson said. “We’ll be practicing and doing conditioning inside the best that we can, and when they tell us to play, we’ll be ready to play.”

What a difference, well, six years can make.

Milford’s Will Emerson fires a backhand return during Tuesday’s season-opening match vs. Hollis Brookline at Longfellow Tennis Club in Nashua. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

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