Swing Away
It's nice to start with No. 1 — especially when it comes to high school tennis.
The 2013 boys tennis season is slated to begin Wednesday with three area No. 1 singles players — Tim Hunt at Mars, Jonathan Perkins at Seneca Valley and Matt Welker at Grove City — returning from last year.
Hunt was the Planets' top singles player as a freshman last season.
“We finished last in the section a year ago, but our top three singles players are sophomores and we've got some quality freshmen joining the program this year,” said Mars coach Chris Knauff. “I'm expecting a pretty significant turnaround this spring.”
Perkins, a junior, enters his third year as the Raiders' No. 1 singles player. He was 11-3 last season. Seneca Valley was 9-7 overall, missing the WPIAL team playoffs by one match.
Welker, a senior, returns at No. 1 singles for the Eagles, 9-4 a year ago.
“Matt lost only three matches all year,” Grove City coach Shawn Sowers said. “He's a very consistent player who anchors our lineup.”
Here is a look at Butler County area boys tennis this spring:
Coach: Dave Hartzell, seventh yearKey Personnel Losses: No. 1 singles Will Nesbitt, No. 2 singles Zac McCaffertySingles: Junior A.J. May bumps up from No. 3 singles to No. 1. Sophomore Henry May, freshmen Devin Fitz and Cam Sedwick will battle for No. 2 and 3 positions.Doubles: Junior Ethan Turner (junior) returns to team with one of players listed above. Seniors Gavin Shuler and Martin Zanicky, sophomore Troy Bell are also in the mix.Hartzell says: “Our section is tough and I see this as a rebuilding year. Nesbitt won the WPIAL singles title last season. Losing he and McCafferty will be tough to overcome.”
Coach: Shawn Sowers, fifth yearKey Personnel Losses: No. 2 singles Steven Hunter, No. 3 singles Adam McCrackenSingles: Matt Welker returns at No. 1, junior Evan Lowers and sophomore Chris Adams have inside track at Nos. 2 and 3.Doubles: Seniors Dylan Motta and Ravi Patel are at No. 1, combination of senior Kyle Yeakle, juniors Frank Bassani and Andrew McCracken will be at No. 2.Sowers says: “Our goal is to compete favorably in the region. Our only losses were to Kennedy Catholic and Greenville, both twice last year. We've got good players, we're just not very deep. We can't afford injuries.”
Coach: Ken Nieser, fifth yearKey Personnel Losses: No. 1 singles Jack Boros, No. 2 doubles Nick PfeifferSingles: Senior Mike Carnes and sophomore Ben Andrews are top two players returning.Doubles: Undetermined as young players may comprise both teams.Nieser says: “This is my first year without Jack Boros anchoring our lineup. Our goal is to get our kids excited about tennis, make our younger kids determined to get good. Our section is extremely strong with Sewickley Academy, Quaker Valley and Winchester Thurston. Our numbers are up and we're trying to put junior varsity teams on the court. That's definitely a positive.”
Coach: Chris Knauff, first yearKey Personnel Losses: No. 1 doubles Zach Hudac and Ryan GralishSingles: Sophomores Tim Hunt at No. 1, Noah Hudac at No. 2 and Nick Ollio at No. 3 are solid. Freshmen Josh Raymundo and Aaron Gruber may join the mix.Doubles: Noah Hudac and freshman Alex Gruber will likely be at No. 1. Seniors Chad Friday and Connor Blakeney may be at No. 2.Knauff says: “We will be young, but there's plenty of talent. Four of my top six players may be freshmen, which could jumble the lineup quite a bit. Our goal is to get to the playoffs. We've missed for a couple of years.”
Coach: Eric Grove, 13th yearKey Personnel Losses: No. 2 singles Troy Abbott, No. 2 doubles Matt HochbergSingles: Junior Jonathan Perkins returns at No. 1, seniors Joe Shults and Mayank Parashar at No. 2, sophomore Alex Park at No. 3.Doubles: Combination of Shults, Parashar and Park will be at No. 1, along with sophomore Patrick O’Connor. Sophomores Michael Garczynski and Eric Abbott are at No. 2.Grove says: “Our goal is always to win more than we lose. With Hampton joining our section this year and North Allegheny always among the top two teams, we will be in a real fight to get one of the three playoff positions in our league.”
