Aurora Central Catholic
Back for the Chargers are junior Justin Biachi, and sophomores Nick Hipp, Aiden Melekus, Leo Martinez, Caleb Smith, Dominic Buttice and Nick Ragsdale.
Newcomers are sophomores Mani Lares and Jesus Ovando, and freshmen Colin Bloemker, Brecken Oester, Gabe Jimenez and Tim Ragsdale.
ACC hopes to improve on a 3-11 overall record and 2-6 mark in the Catholic League.
“We are in the second year of a rebuild,” ACC coach Tammy Whited said. ”The returners are looking strong and newcomers are looking good.“
Batavia
Brad Nelson’s team was 5-2 in the DuKane Conference, 11-9 overall, second in the St Charles North sectional and 52nd in the state in Class 2A last year.
The Bulldogs won the Glenbard South and Crystal Lake Central invitationals and were third at Maine South.
The doubles teams of senior Eric Otten and junior Caleb Sharda along with seniors Matt Vrba and Jack Nelson (20-12) were state qualifiers a year ago.
Others back are seniors Kalvin Wolffe (14-14), Jonathan Folkerts, Kush Adhvarya and Lucas Hubert and sophomore Brayden Korn (18-8).
Newcomers are seniors Kasey Hulbert, Hayden Lacenlale, Patrick Burns and Nick Mowen along with juniors Matt Thorne and Sam Ellis.
“We have the depth to finish in the top three in the conference,” Nelson said. “Wheaton North is the favorite. We want to repeat at Glenbard South and Crystal Lake Central and do well at Maine South and Troy Triad. The kids worked hard in the off-season. We are competitive up and down the lineup. We play Waubonsie Valley, Benet, Oswego and West Aurora in our first matches. Those teams will test us.”
Geneva
Back for first-year coach Doug Ross are seniors Will Perez, Karill Luniv and Will Hansberger along with junior Tyler Haney and sophomore Levi Tucker.
Seeking court time are newcomers seniors Colton Clausen and Hamza Faruqi, juniors Cameron Fozo, Ian Hansberger, Sam Levin, Tim McQuestin and Blake Oleson along with sophomores Augustus Germann and Cole Hecker.
Marmion
First-year coach Dave Richert’s squad returns senior Ben Graft, who is a three-time Class 1A state qualifier.
Also back are seniors AJ Mumford, Owen Theriault and Sam Pall along with juniors Owen Cousins and Jack Sitar.
St. Charles East
The Saints were second in the DuKane Conference and third in the rugged St. Charles North sectional last year led by senior Teige Donehoo, who was 28-4 and a state qualifier.
Also back are seniors Bob Livermore, Tommy Sloncen and Zach Powers along with junior Ryan Cameron (all-conference) and sophomores Wes Sternowski (all-conference) and John Jacob.
“We were second in the conference last season and are hoping for a top spot this season,” coach Robert Livermore said.
St. Charles North
Veteran coach Sean Masoncup, who has 242 wins in 16 years, welcomes back seniors Josh Denz, Jacob Bartel, Aiden Gorski, Ishaan Patel, Neel Bhate, Yaseen Khan and Krishna Pourpui.
Newcomers are seniors Vincent Lin and Robert Stan along with sophomore Rehan Girniwala.
“We want to be competitive in every match,” Masoncup said. “The Saints (St Charles East) will be the top dogs in the conference. Both Wheatons and Batavia will be strong. We want to push the Saints, the two Wheatons and Batavia. We want to get better every day. We want to get some quality state qualifiers. This should be a great year for tennis in the area.”
St. Francis
First-year coach Nate Dell welcomes back seniors Umar Bajwa, Jack Benton, Tommy Kacedan, Ben Kolb, Henry Kopec, Joey Los and Jackson Zeman along with sophomore Mark Andrzejewski. Bajwa posted a 31-7 record and sixth at the Class 1A state finals. Zeman was a state qualifier a year ago.
Newcomers are senior Kellen Carroll and Theodore Marinc along with freshmen Steve Remilius and Sean Rybacki.
West Aurora
The Blackhawks are the defending Upstate Eight Conference West champs and took fourth in the sectionals.
Coach Bill Stanley returns 10 players including seven seniors.
Back for West are seniors Tim Plummer (17-6), Dexter McWilliams, Tyler Byrne (9-7), Lucas Van Lear (18-6), Jon Hoskins (11-6), Cole Loomer (17-6) and Noah Fuller along with juniors Nolan Wyeth (13-8), Ayden Wicks (9-8) and Josh Hunt (9-8).
Senior newcomer Grant Klausner seeks court time.
“We want to repeat as conference champs, continue to improve and be competitive,” Stanley said. “We will step up to the challenge. We are a senior heavy team and all players were locked in during the non-tennis season. We want to continue get better and send a player or two to the state finals.”