Last year the capital area felt like the capital of high school tennis. The Concord boys’ and girls’ teams reached the Division I finals, the Bishop Brady and Bow girls’ teams reached their semifinals, and the Brady and Bow boys’ teams were in the quarterfinals.
Those local teams lost a lot from last year, and most of the schools that claimed tennis championships in 2015 look ready to repeat this spring – the Bedford girls and boys in D-I, the Portsmouth boys and Hanover girls in D-II and the Gilford boys in D-III. But there will still be plenty of talent on nearby courts as area teams and individuals chase titles.
The top two returning local players are Concord senior Justin Toler and Bishop Brady sophomore Sydney Herrington, who both finished runner-up in their individual state tournaments last spring. Toler lost to Lebanon senior Max Reed, 3-6, 6-4, 10-4, in the boys’ final. Herrington fell to Manchester Central sophomore Julia Chappell, 7-5, 6-0, in the girls’ final.
Toler finished 19-2 in singles last year, won the state doubles title with Thomas Bengtson and led the Crimson Tide to a 15-2 record and a spot in the D-I final, where Concord lost to Bedford, 6-3. It was the sixth straight title for Bedford (three in D-II before claiming three in D-II), which has won 64 straight matches and returns five of its top six from last year’s team.
It won’t be easy to dethrone the defending champs, who lost only their No. 5 player, but having Toler back at the top of the lineup is a good place to start for the Tide.
“To have somebody of Justin’s caliber and experience at the number one spot is huge,” Concord Coach Dave Page said, “especially since we really lost the heart of order with number two, three and four gone, it’s extremely valuable to have that piece in tact this year.”
Concord will be counting on juniors Aidan Connor and Adam Bryant, who were elected captains this year along with Toler, to make the jump from the bottom of the ladder to the top. Connor, who was No. 5 last year, worked on his game throughout the offseason and will move to No. 2. Bryant, No. 6 last year, is a very savvy player who moved up to No. 3.
The rest of Concord’s lineup lacks any significant varsity experience, but is full of potential and has already shown signs of improvement during the preseason. Junior Sebastian Hart-Meyer, who gave Bryant a run for his money for the No. 3 spot, will begin the year at No. 4. Matt Chorlian, an excellent athlete who is new to the tennis team, will be at No. 5, and sophomore Kevin Neary, who has made big strides since last season, is at No. 6. Senior Eli Frydman gives Concord a solid No. 7 who can fill in as needed and may earn a starting spot as the season progresses.
“What we get out of those guys, in many respects, will determine the shape of our season,” Page said.
Concord will get a chance to see how it stacks up against Bedford when the Bulldogs come to the Memorial Field courts on April 18. But the Crimson Tide won’t get a chance to face the other top team in D-I, Derryfield, during the regular season.
The Cougars, who lost to Concord in a thrilling 5-4 semifinal last year, also return five of their top six, but the one player who graduated was Derryfield’s No. 1 last year, John Cissel. Concord, Exeter, Pinkerton Academy, Winnacunnet and Hanover figure to be the teams best able to prevent the expected Bedford-Derryfield final.
Bedford also looks to be the team to beat for the rest of the D-I girls. The Bulldogs only return three of their top six, but two of those three are last year’s No. 1 (Abby Ramsey) and No. 3 (Anli Zhang). Central, Exeter, the 2014 champ, and Pinkerton should also be at the top of D-I.
Concord graduated three of the top six from last year’s team that lost to Bedford in the final, 7-2. The Tide returns a talented pair of juniors in Alex Killinger (No. 2 last year) and Becky Cistulli (No. 3 last year) and senior Colleen Casey (No. 6 last year). Concord will need big seasons from those three and for varsity newcomers like Lydia Yen and Irene Escobar to step up if it wants to challenge the top teams.
“We’re looking to improve as the season goes on and our goal is to make the playoffs and see what happens from there,” Concord Coach Greg Coache said.
The Tide will get a quick idea of how much it needs to improve when it travels to Bedford April 18 and hosts Central April 22.
The Brady girls were No. 6 heading into the D-II tournament last spring, but they upset No. 3 Hollis-Brookline (7-2) before falling in the semifinals to Hanover (7-2), which went on to win its third straight championship.
The Giants only return two full-time starters from last year’s team, Herrington (N0. 1 this year and last) and junior Ravalika Damerla (No. 2 this year, No. 3 last). Senior Ianatha Beane saw some varsity time last season and this spring she’s jumped up to No. 3.
“We lost several key starters to graduation, so the focus this year in on developing the new, younger players,” Brady Coach Lee Herrington said.
Those new players fared well in a 9-0 season-opening win against Pembroke Academy. Sophomore Yolanda Wang won 8-1 at No. 4, sophomore Taylor Hood won 8-0 at No. 5 and senior Ellen Mowsowitz won 8-6 at No. 6.
Hanover and Portsmouth were undefeated when they met in last year’s D-II girls’ final before the Maruaders claimed an 8-1 win. Portmsouth returns three seniors to its top six while Hanover is led by Izzi Davis. The Green Giants will travel to Portsmouth on April 22 and host Hanover on May 2. St. Thomas (led by Izzy Leonardi, who Herrington beat in last year’s singles semifinals, 6-2, 5-7, 10-5) and Souhegan also figure to be among the top teams in D-II.
Last year’s D-II boys’ final saw Portsmouth beat Lebanon, 5-4, and those two figure to be battling for the title again this year. Lebanon did graduate some of its top player while the Clippers, who have been to three straight finals, return most of their lineup and are the early favorite.
“Portsmouth is going to be very strong,” Bishop Brady boys’ Coach Rick Skarinka said.
Brady stormed out of the gates last season and finished the regular season 11-3 before losing in the quarterfinals. With only two full-time starters back from that team, junior Danny Bryck (moving from No. 3 to No. 1) and senior Thomas MacMullin (moving from No. 4 to No. 2), the Giants have set a modest goal this year of just making the playoffs.
Coe-Brown was also a quarterfinal team last year and the Bears bring five of their six starters.
“There’s a very talented group of seniors on the team this year,” Coe-Brown Coach Sam Struthers said. “We hope to use that talent to make some noise in D2 and go deep in the tournament.”
Oyster River, Souhegan and Windham could also be factors this season.
After graduating most of the talent that helped it to the three straight finals and two title from 2011-2013, the majority of the Bow girls’ team gained some valuable varsity experience in 2014 and last year the Falcons came on strong by the end of the season to earn the fifth-seed in the D-III tournament. Bow then then beat No. 4 Sanborn, 6-3, before falling to No. 1 Conant, 5-4.
The Falcons will get a chance at redemption Friday when they travel to Conant. Senior Laura Zbhelik will lead the Falcons from the top of the ladder with seniors Casey Day and Sarah Zecha and juniors Claire Mulvaney and Nandita Kasireddy also returning to the top six.
“We hope to be in the mix,” Bow Coach Jonsey Rainville said. “We have outstanding senior leadership which hopefully will play a big part in us having a successful season.”
Bow is not scheduled to face three-time defending champion Littleton, which lost in its season opener at home against Berlin, 6-3.
After reaching four straight finals from 2011-2014 (and finishing runner-up four straight times), the Bow boys’ team just snuck into the playoffs last season with a 7-7 record. But with six players with varsity experience returning – Brayden Binder, Mike Mullen, Evan Alfano, Jack Olson, Aditya Shah and Hayden Udelson, sr. – the Falcons are hoping to find their way back to the top of the D-III standings this year.
All those returners may still not be enough for Bow to knock off Gilford, which has won five of the last six titles, including a 7-2 win over Inter-Lakes last year. But the Falcons won’t have to wait long to find out how far away they are from Gilford. The Golden Eagles travel to Bow on April 15.