High school boys tennis: 2018 team preview capsules

FOX VALLEY CONFERENCE

Cary-Grove

Coach: Amanda Schuetzle (ninth season)

Last year: 19-5, 8-0 FVC

Top returners: Mike Ptaszek, sr.; Thomas Conneen, jr.; Daniel Sowa, so.; Colin Enstrom, sr.; Matt Poole, sr.; Teddy Price, sr.; Joe Stanley, sr.

Key newcomers: Teddy Conneen, so.; Isaac Rands, so.

Noteworthy: The only team to go undefeated in FVC dual matches, Cary-Grove narrowly lost the conference regular-season title (which is determined by the total number of team points in all eight FVC matches) to Jacobs in 2017. Coach Amanda Schuetzle said this year’s lineup still is a work in progress. “This team can be a strong contender in the FVC, but we have some work to do,” Schuetzle said.

Crystal Lake Central

Coach: Sam Sweeney (first season)

Last year: 8-6

Top returners: Graham Clute, sr.; Mav Edwards, sr.; Kyle Limbach, sr.; Josh Marcus, sr.; John Wallace, jr.

Key newcomers: Luke Reupert, jr.

Noteworthy: John Wallace, who is the grandson of Crystal Lake South coach Don Nead, won the No. 2 singles flight at the FVC tournament last season. First-year coach Sam Sweeney, a 2006 Prairie Ridge grad, is an eight-time McHenry County Classic Men’s Open singles champion as a player and a three-time Northwest Herald Boys Tennis Player of the Year. He previously coached Prairie Ridge boys tennis for one season in 2011. “We have a great group of guys that have been motivated to improve since the first day of practice,” Sweeney said.

Crystal Lake South

Coach: Don Nead (40th season)

Last year: 8-8, 3-5 FVC

Top returners: John Hanigan, sr.; Jason Simboli, sr.; Will Sudbrook, sr.; Dominik Bogacz, jr.; Alex Freeman, jr.; Dan Minogue, jr.; Trevor O’Connor, jr.; Sam Palmer, jr.

Key newcomers: John Elwart, sr.; Haari Sureshkumar, sr.; Bayden Trocki, sr.; Nathan Koh, jr.; Alex Krawczyk, jr.; Will Howard, fr.; Carson O’Connor, fr.; Ethan Wilkening, fr.; Jason Russell, so.

Noteworthy: As coach Don Nead enters his 40th season coaching Crystal Lake South, eight Gators return with previous varsity experience. South hopes to improve on last season’s .500 finish in dual matches.

Dundee-Crown

Coach: Andrew Tollberg (first season)

Last year: 1-11, 0-8 FVC

Top returners: Matthew Krispin, sr.; Jack Miller, sr.; Chase Nelson, sr.; Sneh Shah, jr.; Eric Shields, sr.

Key newcomers: Jonah Koehlert, so.

Noteworthy: Dundee-Crown lost only one starter from last year’s lineup and hopes to build off the experience that the returning players gained. First-year coach Andrew Tollberg takes over the Chargers’ program.

Hampshire

Coach: Art Steuber (second season)

Last year: 9-10, 2-6 FVC

Top returners: Alex Sayavongs, sr.; Blake Snider, jr.; Daniel Hawkey, jr.; Mark Brown, sr.

Key newcomers: Ben Steuber, jr.; Josh Milan, jr.; John McCann, jr.; David Hougland, jr.; Abraham Hougland, fr.

Noteworthy: Second-year coach Art Steuber thinks this year’s team is both deeper and stronger than last year’s. “We look to be competitive in conference and to push further into the postseason than in past years,” Steuber said. David Hougland returns to the team after a one-year hiatus and brings his younger brother, freshman Abraham Hougland. Steuber expects those two could be near the top of the lineup.

Huntley

Coach: Barry Wells (13th season)

Top returners: Jack Soderwall, sr.; Vince Eliscu, sr.; Abhilash Parath, sr.; Ben Modrich, sr.; Julian Collins, jr.; Justin Schee, jr.; Ben Saiz, jr.; Jack Adams, so.; Drake Southwell, so.

Key newcomers: Saarav Desai, fr.; Thomas Patel, fr.; Andrew Burkey, fr.; Daniru Dharmaratne, fr.; Brady Michel, sr.

Noteworthy: Huntley has nine returning starters back from last year. Soderwall was a state qualifier last season in doubles. Coach Barry Wells called his freshmen newcomers “the most skilled freshmen class I’ve ever coached.” He expects some of them will compete for starting positions. “We have good top-end talent and depth, which should allow us to compete for our first conference championship,” Wells said.

Jacobs

Coach: Jon Betts (fifth season)

Last year: 25-10, 7-1 FVC; FVC regular season and tournament champions; Class 2A sectional champions

Top returners: Kerwin Chong, sr.; Kyle Burton, jr.; Kevin Burton, jr.

Key newcomers: Luke Esswein, sr.; Alex Luy, jr.; Chandler Marchi, jr.; Ethan Schmidt, so.; Chris Kastritis, so.; Brandon Dinh, so.; Ben Cannon, so.; John Kaiser, fr.; David Bautsch, fr.

Noteworthy: The defending FVC champion graduated all eight of its starting doubles players from last season, but returns all three singles players in Chong, Kyle Burton and Kevin Burton. “We have a new look and a lot of work ahead of us,” coach Jon Betts said. “We have also challenged our young team to put Jacobs in contention for a third consecutive conference title.” Chong, who will play tennis at Roosevelt University next year, was the FVC singles champion, a Class 2A state qualifier and the 2017 Northwest Herald Boys Tennis Player of the Year.

McHenry

Coach: Kyle Funkhouser (13th season)

Top returners: Joe Diedrich, sr.; Peyton Diedrich, sr.; Matt Marshall, sr.; Wyatt Glave, sr.; Ramsey Trost, sr.; Joe Mihevc, sr.

Key newcomers: Cole Barroso, sr.; Jakob Pipkin, sr.; Eric Guzman, sr.; Joel Ramos, sr.; Liam Nielsen, so.

Noteworthy: McHenry has a lot of seniors on its roster this season. Coach Kyle Funkhouser said, “This is definitely a fun and entertaining group to coach. I look forward to seeing how this group of mainly seniors can come together.” The Warriors, with their experience, hope to compete at a high level.

Prairie Ridge

Coach: Jim Benson (fifth season)

Last year: 13-6, 5-3 FVC

Top returners: Daniel Lamar, sr.; Patrick Nasta, sr.; Devarsi Rawal, sr.; Ben Lingner, sr.; Max Kueller, jr.; Jakub Rugala, jr.; Sarf Karim, sr.; Hunter Fredrick, jr.; Mark Kuechenberg, jr.

Key newcomers: James Lasak, sr.; Jared Arkell, jr.; Sam Kim, fr.; Nathan Kim, fr; Jonathan Robinson, jr.; Ohm Patel, jr.

Noteworthy: Prairie Ridge returns nine players from last year, including the top six in its lineup. Lamar and Nasta are the defending FVC doubles champions. They went 31-4 on the year but missed out on state in a loaded Class 2A Cary-Grove Sectional. This year, Prairie Ridge dropped below the threshold and will compete in Class 1A. Rawal and Lingner figure to be the No. 2 doubles pair. Coach Jim Benson said he is “very excited to see what these boys can do.”

KISWAUKEE RIVER CONFERENCE

Johnsburg

Coach: Sean Stochl (first season)

Top returners: Brian Anderson, jr.; Cody Dschida, sr.; Connor McCrea, sr.; Matthew Shelton, sr.

Key newcomers: Lucas Toussaint, fr.

Noteworthy: Coach Sean Stochl takes over for longtime coach Rick Bailey, who coached the boys program for the past 25 seasons. Anderson and Shelton are returning singles players. Dschida and McCrea played doubles together last season. “We’re looking to go and compete in matches,” Stochl said. “Brian has high hopes. We’re hoping Matt and him compete, and we’ll see where we fare as a team.”

Marengo

Coach: Erika Nelson (third season)

Last year: 1-13, 0-5 RKC

Top returners: Ethan Schmitt, sr.; Michael Shahid, so.

Key newcomers: Aaron Phillips, fr.; Blake Martins, fr.; Marco Magrini, fr.

Noteworthy: The Indians are looking to improve on last year’s finish. Schmitt and Shahid are two of the more experienced players on the roster. “We’d like to improve our athleticism and be a little better every time we step off the court,” coach Erika Nelson said.

Woodstock

Coach: Jake Porter (second season)

Last year: 11-2, 6-0 KRC; KRC regular season and tournament champions

Top returners: Adam Boyle, sr.; Ian Dawdy, jr.; Andrew Ahmeti, sr.; Andrew Gippert, sr.

Key newcomers: Spencer Ogle, so.

Noteworthy: The KRC champions hope to compete for another conference title. The Blue Streaks return six starters from last year. Boyle and Dawdy bring back sectional experience. Coach Jake Porter will look to them, as well as Ahmeti and Gippert, for veteran leadership.

Woodstock North

Coach: Bart Zadlo (first season)

Last year: 4-10, 4-2 KRC

Top returners: Jackson Emmons, jr.; Nate Syens, jr.; Collin McClurg, jr.; Nick Phillips, so.;

Key newcomers: Alex Fabian, jr.; Seth Lagerstrom, jr.; Davin Scherman, jr.

Noteworthy: North’s roster is made up of mostly juniors and underclassmen. First-year coach Bart Zadlo served as an assistant coach in the program for three years. “We are a young team with a new mindset,” Zadlo said. The Thunder hope to improve on last year’s record and make some noise in the KRC.

EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLIC CONFERENCE

Marian Central

Coach: Gina Jasovic (first season)

Last year: Class 1A sectional champions; second in the ESCC

Top returners: Ian Brzeski, sr.; Michael Dowling, jr.; Traison Diedrich, sr.

Key newcomers: James Lyndon, sr.; Max Striedl, jr.

Noteworthy: Both Class 1A state qualifying singles players, Brzeski and Dowling, return for the Hurricanes. Brzeski won his first match at state last year before dropping the next two. Dowling, though he lost his first match, won three straight in the consolation bracket before going down, finishing his tournament at 3-2. First-year coach Gina Jasovic takes over a Hurricanes squad that won its first sectional title since 2003 last year.