After finishing 13th at state last season, the boys tennis team is optimistic about the upcoming season. Having not lost any of their top varsity players the team sees themselves besting last seasons performance. Coach Jordane Warkentin had this to say about the team’s preparation for the coming season.

“We went through tryouts and just got done on Friday so we’re starting to get into varsity level competition,” Warkentin said. “The guys worked really hard and a lot of them took private lessons and went to camps and tournaments over the summer and have been preparing for this since last season ended.”

Although the decision hasn’t officially been made when it comes to the leaders or captains of the team, Warkentin has a few names in mind.

“We do have one senior, Josh Siegel, and then we have a two-time state returner in Jake Bonnett who will kind of assume a leadership position as well,” Warkentin said.

Last year sophomore Josh Rosenblatt won the Metro Tournament and finished 5th as the #2 singles at the State Tournament. Rosenblatt had this to say about his practice over the summer.

“My arm has been hurting all summer so I only practiced for about three times over the summer. As soon as we got back I started to practice a couple more times and just worked on getting back into tennis,” Rosenblatt said. 

Some of Rosenblatt’s goals for the season are to win an invite as the 1 or 2 singles as well as metros or state.

“Last year we finished 13th, It’s our goal this year to break top five at state so it’s a big jump but we do have a really solid, young and talented team. We have really high hopes and hope to break top 5 and stay there for a few years,” Warkentin said.

The tennis team will hit the courts for their first match this Thursday, Aug 29 against Lincoln East at home.