State title or bust for defending tennis champ Hinsdale Central

With the 2013 boys tennis season underway, Hinsdale Central is playing with one goal in mind. A young but talented Hinsdale South team is looking to make noise in conference and in the postseason.

Hinsdale Central

Coach: John Naisbitt

Top players:

Alex Hagermoser sr. doubles

Chase Hamilton jr. doubles

Peter Heneghan sr. doubles

Martin Joyce so. singles

Michael Lorenzini so. doubles

What to watch: Five of six state tournament competitors return from last year's state championship team. Fifth-place finisher Sam Bloom, who graduated, is the only loss from the state lineup.

“I figure we’re in good shape,” coach John Naisbitt said.

It’s been so far, so good for the Red Devils, who have won four out-of-state duals, took the title at the Benet-Downers Grove South invite over the weekend and topped Oak Park-River Forest 4-3 Tuesday in their first West Suburban Silver dual meet of the season.

Naisbitt said Martin Joyce, who finished fourth in the singles bracket last year, has only gotten better. The all-senior doubles team of Alex Hagermoser and Peter Heneghan returns with the goal of a repeat state title foremost on their minds. The tandem of Chase Hamilton and Michael Lorenzini are back and aim to surpass last year’s fifth-place doubles finish.

“They all play year round so there’s not getting the rust off,” Naisbitt said. “They’ve been playing indoors and they all look great.”

A deep roster could see other players earn postseason spots with their performances during in-season intra-team challenge matches, though no matter who plays in the May 18 sectional, the goal is to bring home a state title May 25.

“There’s one goal with this team and that’s a state title. Nothing else matters,” Naisbitt said. “Second in state is not satisfactory.”

Hinsdale South

Coach: Stephen Snider

Top players:

Matt Bennett sr.

Rohan Chinwalla fr.

Zayd Hayani sr.

Raman Mathur so.

Greg Murray jr.

Eric Wing fr.

What to watch: First year head coach Stephen Snider inherits a team that has a mix of veteran and rookie talent.

Team captains Matt Bennett, Zayd Hamani and Greg Murray and sophomore Raman Mathur all return from last year’s team, but two of the team’s top players are freshmen Rohan Chinwalla and Eric Wing.

“It’s a really interesting team in the sense that it’s difficult to set a lineup because some of our top players, their best chance to make it to state is as a doubles team,” Snider said. “So you need to get them playing together in doubles, but at the same time, in dual meets, when you have your best players playing doubles, it’s more beneficial to break them up to get two wins instead of one.”

As such, Snider said any player could end up playing singles or doubles at almost any time, depending on the dual meet opponent or tournament draw.

A 5-2 loss to Downers Grove South on Tuesday put the Hornets behind the eight ball in terms of winning a West Suburban Gold conference title, but that is still a primary goal.

“Our guys know it’s an uphill battle to gain ground on Downers Grove South, but we still have our sights set on first,” Snider said.

When it comes to sectional tournament time, where players earn berths to the state tourney, Snider believes the best chance for the Hornets to get to state is via the No. 1 doubles team. Who will comprise that tandem will be decided later.

“We have a lot of good team chemistry,” Snider said. “The guys are having fun and working hard. The guys are bonding and working well as a team. They’re all in it together.”