Beacon-News boys tennis preview capsules

Updated: April 5, 2011 2:16PM

Aurora Central Catholic

Coach: Mike Cowen, first season.

Top returners: Sophomores Matt Nass and Travis Exline.

Top newcomers: Freshmen Jared Cebulski, Julian Rios, Enrique Anya; sophomore Matt Myers; juniors Rob DeMyers, Joey McEachern, Paul Kaminski; senior Tim Fernandez.

Season outlook: Now here's something you don't see every day - five varsity basketball players coming out for the tennis team. Myers, DeMyers, McEachern, Kaminski and Fernandez were all a part of the Class 3A Chargers hoop team that won a sectional title and were a game away from the state tournament. That's exactly what the Chargers and new coach Cowan need this year, which is both unique and exciting.

"It helps because they are competitors," said Cowen, who also coaches the girls team at ACC. "I'm really happy to have them. It helps because they are athletes who move and are quick." Cowen was a conference champ at ACC in 1984-1986, even though he ended up playing golf at Southern Illinois. He has successfully beefed up Chargers tennis, as 17 players are now in the entire program. "We want to make the program relevant again," said Cowen, who did the same for the girls team in the fall (the Chargers went from 5 girls to 12 and 0 wins to 4 in 2010).

"But we are going to be extremely young this year. We are young and inexperienced, but we'll definitely get better." Myers can't necessarily be classified as new - he hasn't played tennis in a few years, but at the time he was playing, he was a nationally ranked player. He will split his time in the spring with tennis and track. Nass was at No. 1 singles last year and Exline covers the court well.

Batavia

Coach: Bob Kummer, 32nd season.

Top returners: Seniors Alex Bock, Luke Kuzmanic, Connor Propp, David Sarver; juniors Josh Cogan, Kyle Stiffler, Alek Mizikar.

Top newcomers: Freshmen Ryan Sterling, Tim Murat.

Season outlook: With No. 1 singles player Cogan, who placed seventh in the state tournament last year, on the Bulldogs' side, Kummer is sure the team is going to be in good condition this season. "He's an all-around player who loves to play the game," Kummer said. "He has set a goal to finish in the top 4 in the state tournament. It's encouraging." Cogan was part of a Batavia team that went 12-12 in dual meets and fourth in the now-defunct Western Sun Conference last year. Kummer knows last year's .500 showing will result in better things this year. "Our returning players all have varsity experience and know what they have to do on the courts," said Kummer, who started the tennis programs at Batavia in 1977. "They all want to play, so it should be a fun experience." Rookie Sterling will be at No. 2 singles. Kummer thinks on any other team, he'd be in the top spot.

East Aurora

Coach: Susan Skelley, fourth season.

Top returners: Seniors John Cardoza, Luis Acevedo, Oscar Espinal; juniors Luke Gerhard, John Gerhard; sophomores Alberto Flores, Oscar Quilles.

Top newcomers: Sophomores Aaron Ramos, Jahel Cortes; junior Tavarrie Meeks; seniors Manny Portillo, Juan Vivaldo, Jose Huerta, Alan Gonzalez, Eddie Llamas.

Season outlook: Skelley has been coaching tennis at East Aurora at some level, both boys and girls, for almost 40 years now, so she has come across her share of brothers and sisters. This year, she has a pair of returning junior brothers, John and Luke Gerhard, whose older sister also played for her and another brother whom she has coached. Matt is with the Tomcats this year as a volunteer assistant. "(John and Luke) grew up seeing their older brother and sister play, so that's a nice connection there," Skelley said. The Gerhard brothers will be closely competing with team captains Cardoza and Acevedo for the top doubles spot in the lineup. This is the second year both top doubles teams will be playing with one another. "The skill level is very close," Skelley said of her two top doubles teams. "It just adds to the experience. We have some talent to put something together." Quilles will spend another year at the No. 1 singles slot, Flores will be No. 2 after playing at No. 3 last year and Espinal will also be in the mix in singles. Flores also had an older brother who played for Skelley. Five of the top 11 players are seniors, with three coming from last year's JV team. "The guys are excited to play," Skelley said.

Geneva

Coach: Pete Burkhardt, third season.

Top returners: Seniors Collin Rapp, Kevin Potts, Ryan Barnard, Chris Moran, Tyler Livingston, Reed Chlasta, Mark Kennedy; juniors West Adelman, Chad Barber, Brad Reedy.

Top newcomers: Freshmen Nick Huang, Ryan Doeckel.

Season outlook: Depth is key in tennis, and Geneva has it this year, better than it has in the past. "Our level of ability is higher," Burkhardt said. "Being in a new conference (from Western Sun to Upstate Eight), it's going to be a real fight. Whatever team has the most depth in doubles is going to win the conference." Rapp (at No. 2 singles) and Adelman were conference champs last year, and Rapp qualified for state (as part of a doubles duo with Filip Ivkovich). Rapp and Adelman will compete for the No. 1 singles spot. "Collin is our best doubles player who has worked hard on his singles game," Burkhardt said. "West can hit big shots and he's grown. He's tall. His goal is to qualify for state."

IMSA

Coach: Jim Bernardini, seventh season.

Top returners: Seniors Gary Sheng, Nathan Yan.

Top newcomers: None listed.

Season outlook: Sheng and Yan have been the key to IMSA's success in their three-plus years on varsity. Both are state qualifiers (Sheng in singles and doubles, Yan in doubles) and are each approaching 50-plus wins with the Titans. "I expect them both to get to state," Bernardini said. "They have the experience, so it should work out well." Fourteen players are on varsity, with most back from last year. "We should be very competitive," Bernardini said. "We are pretty deep, and the skill level is high throughout."

Marmion

Coach: John Tsang, first season.

Top returners: Juniors Will Graft, Chris Pattermann; sophomore Jackson Rettig.

Top newcomers: Freshmen John Graft, Ricky Angsten, Kevin Hoss.

Season outlook: The Cadets lost two state qualifiers (John Mason and Bubba Weiler) and a head coach (Pat Maurer), but gained a new coach in Tsang (and his brother, an assistant named Dave), three new freshmen in John Graft, Angsten and Hoss and a solid turnout at tryouts. Fifty boys showed up, and 35 are now in the entire program. "All positions are up for grabs," Tsang said. "We have a fresh, young team competing. We are still trying to figure things out." Three freshmen make the Cadets young, but Rettig, Graft and Hettering bring the team experience.

Metea Valley

Coach: Karl Morgan, first season.

Top players: Juniors James Billman, Nick Ohl, Bill Finnerty, Matt Shipley, Rishi Sriram, Rishaub Sharma, George Lin, Nate Kuhlman.

Season outlook: Forgive Morgan for not knowing every single detail about his Mustangs. The first-year and first-time varsity coach just took over the program the Monday before the season started. "It's going well," said Morgan, who played at Barrington High School, the University of Illinois-Chicago and Carthage College. "I'm excited to coach at the varsity level. I couldn't be more thrilled. They are great kids and they get along well."

Oswego

Coach: Linda Keely, 28th season.

Top returners: Seniors Nate Kyes; juniors Benji Petkus, Austin McQuethy, R.J. Salerno.

Top newcomers: Freshman Jason Koesler; sophomores Andrew Laning, Kenny Papke, Dom Pizzo; junior Dan Nagel; seniors Jacob Roberts, Joe Scheibenreif, Vinny Pizzo.

Season outlook: The Panthers have dominated the Southwest Prairie Conference the past three seasons, and Keely is shooting for the same this year. "We hope to win it again, with the next goal getting someone to state in both singles and doubles," said Keely, who also coaches boys bowling at Oswego. The doubles team of Petkus and McQuethy, who have, "both improved tremendously," according to Keely, finished in the top 48 in the state last year. Kyes and and Salerno, another doubles team, complete the list of the four players back from a team that lost 7 of 11 starters. "We are looking to rebuild," Keely said. Koesler is the lone freshman on the Panthers. Keely said he will play in the top three in singles. "He's tough, and should be able to hold his own," Keely said.

Oswego East

Coach: Scott Gengler, second season.

Top returners: Junior Dan Milenkovic; sophomores Blaine Hrovat, Austin Hwang.

Top newcomers: Sophomore Andrew Barron; junior Nikas Bilinskas; senior Kushal Bakshi.

Season outlook: Gengler knows his Wolves are going to be good this year - they just want to get out there and compete. However, the first two outings of the season were postponed due to poor weather. "Once April gets here, we are going to be pretty busy," said Gengler, who has been with the program for five years. "It's going great now. We are just looking to compete soon." The singles lineup is pretty set, and Gengler is hopeful about Hrovat's chances at a great season at No. 1 singles. As a freshman in the same spot last year, he went undefeated in the regular season in conference play and third at the conference meet. "I'm very optimistic about Blaine back at No. 1 singles," Gengler said. "He just missed qualifying for state last year. He has great potential to become the first state qualifier in school history." Milenkovic and Hwang should be solid at No. 2 and 3 singles, respectively. "We are excited to see what happens with them," Gengler said.

Waubonsie Valley

Coach: Phil Galow, 30th season.

Top returners: Seniors Max Botbol, Zach Nygren, Patrick Zhao, Sam Raymond; junior Abhi Singh, Deep Chatterjee; sophomores Mike Cioffi, Alex Tadevich.

Top newcomers: Freshmen Kameron Yagoobi, Sahil Mathur; juniors Jibran Ahmed, Vikram Gurusamy, Carey Theodoru; Senior Byron Hamilton.

Season outlook: At the moment, the Warriors are just like the weather - up and down. "It's been hard to get some stability now," said Galow, who also coaches the girls team. "Naming a specific lineup right now would be tough." The No. 1 singles spot is for sure in Singh, who is also ranked No. 1 in his class academically. Galow said he is ready for a breakout season after a 26-13 record and appearance in the state tournament last year. The Warriors went 9-5 overall and 8-2 in the Upstate Eight Conference last year, but lost four players due to injury, graduation and players who did not try out for the team again. Eight return, six are new, so right now everything is up in the air.

West Aurora

Coach: Adam Camp, third season.

Top returners: Seniors Bryce Johnson, Kennan Johnson, Luke Frauenhoff, Luke Nebelsick; junior Matt Kuntzi.

Top newcomers: Freshman Nick Kuntzi.

Season outlook: There are three Kuntzis on the Blackhawks' roster this year - Matt, the No. 1 singles, his freshman brother Nick at No. 2 singles (and teamed up at No. 1 doubles when necessary) and Jim Kuntzi, a third-year assistant coach (and the boys' dad) and head tennis pro at the Vaughan Athletic Center in Aurora. "A lot of the focus is on these two," Camp said of the Kuntzi brothers, who he hopes will qualify for the state tournament this year. Kennan Johnson will be at No. 3 singles and Frauenhoff will play in doubles. Everything else at the moment is a question. "Depth is an issue with our team," Camp said. Camp is hoping for an above .500 dual meet record and a fourth-place (or better) showing in the always-tough DuPage Valley Conference.

Yorkville

Coach: Frank Yabsley, 17th season.

Top returners: Seniors Brian Coski, Michael Ems, Ricky Hernandez, Jason Pickering, Steve Schwebke, Austin Luettich, Brandon Barskauskas; juniors Jon Momment, Joe Gutzweiler, Nick Turnbull.

Top newcomers: Juniors Zach Hames, Christian Hidalgo.

Season outlook: There wasn't one ounce of hesitation when Yabsley was asked how the Foxes are looking this year. "Very good," said Yabsley, who also coaches the girls team. "We are off to a very fast start. We are excited. This is one of the more competitive teams I've coached. They are anxious to get going." Just two starters (and state qualifiers in Kyle Pamson and half a doubles team Andrew Momment) graduated from last year's team, which was 15-1 overall and 5-1 in the now-defunct Western Sun Conference. The only loss was to Glenbard South, which Yorkville doesn't have to deal with this year, as the Foxes are now in the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference. Either way, they are going to be good. Junior Jon Momment is the lone state qualifier back (the other half of the doubles duo with Andrew Momment). He is moving from doubles to No. 2 singles. At No. 1 singles is Coski. The No. 1 doubles team is Ems and Gutzweiler; No. 2 is Hernandez and Pickering; No. 3 is Schwebke and Turnbull and No. 4 is the newcomers, Hames and Hidalgo. These two went undefeated last year on the sophomore team. No. 5 doubles is Luettich and Barsauskas. Several players will be playing in college next year.

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