When area high school tennis teams open their competitive season on Monday, it will be the dawn of a new era for many programs.
Of the 11 boys’ and girls’ teams in the capital area competing this season, only two of them are led by a head coach who has been with the team for more than two seasons.
Kearsarge boys’ coach Lynn Miller is back for a sixth year after leading the Cougars to the Division III title last year — Kearsarge’s first since 1975 — and Pembroke girls’ coach David Goulet is back for year No. 7, but none of the other area coaches were with their programs pre-pandemic.
With the end of the 2021 season came the retirement of longtime boys’ coaches Dave Page (coached the previous 17 years at Concord High, plus 13 prior to that at Bow), Bow’s Drew Groves (12 seasons) and Coe-Brown’s Sam Struthers (19 years), who is now the Coe-Brown Northwood Academy athletic director.
There was a lot of turnover on the girls’ side as well.
Their replacements might be new to these teams or roles, but they’re not new to coaching (many of them previously were assistants or coached at other high schools) and they’re certainly not new to tennis. Neither are most of their athletes, and a few area teams poised to make deep tournament runs.
All five of the area’s boys’ teams open their seasons on Monday, with Concord hosting powerhouse Exeter at Memorial Field, Bow traveling to Coe-Brown, Bishop Brady hosting White Mountains and Kearsarge hosting Plymouth.
Pembroke will not field a boys’ team this year due to low numbers.
The season-opening matches for the girls are scattered throughout the week, with Concord traveling to Exeter and Coe-Brown traveling to defending D-II finalist Hollis-Brookline on Monday.
Bow and Bishop Brady will play each other on Tuesday at Memorial Field in a rematch of last year’s D-II preliminary round — a match that Brady won, 5-4.
Pembroke will play at Alvirne and Kearsarge will host Conant on Wednesday to wrap up area openers.
An outlook for all area tennis programs is below.
CONCORD
Coach: Kevin Parsons (1st year)
Last year: 6-9, reached D-I quarterfinals
Returning starters: Daniel Pedersen, senior; Finn Conery, senior; Finn Brown, junior; Tyler Coskren, senior; Carter Pratt, sophomore
Top newcomers: Peer Bergmann, junior
Outlook: Last year’s rebuilding team dropped its first five matches of the season — all by 9-0 scores — but then went on a run to get to the Division I quarterfinals that came to an end at the rackets of the champions from Bedford. Five of the top players from last year’s group are back and the Tide players “are strong and electric on the court,” according to Parsons.
“Their chemistry in doubles makes them easy to coach and their singles game is excellent,” Parsons said. “We are excited to start the season and reach our goals. Our leaders Daniel Pedersen and Finn Conery are stronger than ever and getting the team ready for the season. As their new coach, I am honored and grateful to have this group of players.”
Teams to beat: Derryfield, Hanover, Exeter, Bedford
Coach: Jay Yvars (1st year)
Last year: 7-5, reached D-II quarterfinals
Returning starters: Dominik Jurcins, junior; Hunter Duncan, sophomore; Colby Smith, sophomore; Noah Leuchtenberger, senior; Oliver Dolcino, senior
Top newcomers: Cy Yvars, junior
Outlook: Coach Yvars is taking over at Bow after coaching Bishop Brady last season and inherits an experienced roster.
“This should be a good season for the Bow boys’ tennis team,” coach Yvars said. “There are returning five starters from last year with some new additions and good depth.”
Coach: Mark Struthers (2nd year)
Last year: 3-5, lost in D-II prelims
Returning starters: Sam Dupuis, senior; Sam Lavoie, senior; Dawson Green, senior; Nick Principato, senior; Jackson Colby, senior
Top newcomers: James Larsen-Clark, sophomore
Outlook: Struthers is back in a head coaching role with his younger brother moving into Coe-Brown’s athletic director position. Struthers coached CBNA’s girls’ team for 12 years and now has a senior-laden boys’ roster to work with. The Bears’ tournament run ended early last season, but that loss came against champion Portsmouth and Coe-Brown’s top five this year are all seniors.
“Having many seniors on the team this year should make for competitive matches,” Struthers said. “No juniors this year, so underclassmen should show growth and will gain valuable experience as the season progresses.”
Teams to beat: Portsmouth, Bow, Lebanon
Coach: Kelsey Perrault (1st year)
Last year: 0-11, lost in D-III quarterfinals
Returning starters: Ryan Achong, senior; Brian McDonough, senior; Aldiyar Irik, sophomore; John Horangic, senior; Colby Von Kannewurff, junior
Outlook: Perrault — the Brady girls’ coach — is adding boys’ coach to her list of duties. The Giants are rebuilding after a winless season last year, but return several players.
Coach: Lynn Miller (6th year)
Last year: 7-4, D-III champions
Returning starters: Toby MacLeod, senior; Liam Miller, freshman; Davis West, junior; Graham West, freshman; Thomas Shepherd, sophomore
Top newcomers: Kayden Schusler, junior
Outlook: The Cougars lost No. 2 Jared Roberts to graduation and No. 1 Kaylen Lundberg moved out of state, but Kearsarge returns No. 3 MacLeod and a slew of other players who started on last season’s champion squad. Miller, the West brothers and Shepherd filled out the bottom half of Kearsarge’s starting lineup last season and have other players, such as Schusler, who are improving and could potentially break into starting roles.
Coach: Greg Malette (1st year)
Last year: 6-8, reached D-I quarterfinals
Returning starters: Alex Grappone, junior; Grace Ferguson, junior; Lucy Sawyer, junior; Nell Malette, senior; Seven Doperalski, junior
Top newcomers: Aidah Smalley, sophomore; Bella Jeunehomme, freshman; Katherine Tewksbury, sophomore; Maddie Mikkelsen, sophomore; Olivia Reynolds, sophomore; Peyton Trento, senior; Rosie Curry, junior; Sam Riley, sophomore; Yangchen Sherpa, freshman
Outlook: Malette steps into the head coaching role after a year as an assistant and has a roster that will look very different from the one that took the courts last year.
“We have only one returning top-six player and four returning players who will be promoted to top six,” Malette said. “(We) need to transmit mental and technical game knowledge effectively. On and off the court there are leadership opportunities for these players to assume and grow into.”
Teams to beat: Bedford, Manchester Central, Derryfield
Coach: Kelsey Perrault (2nd year)
Last year: 7-6, reached D-II semifinals
Returning starters: Julia Puleo, senior; Libbey Hicks, senior; Laura Yap, sophomore
Top newcomers: Anya Koshy, freshman
Outlook: The Giants are still a young team, but that didn’t stop them from making a deep run in the D-II tournament last season.
“As a young team again this year, I look forward to watching the girls grow as a team of tennis players,” Perrault said.
Coach: Steve Langevin (1st year)
Last year: 5-6, lost in D-II prelims
Returning starters: Amy Gray, senior; Cailyn Benson, senior; Sudy Chakraborty, junior
Top newcomers: Josefine Jaques, junior; Jaden Glace, freshman; Grace Modzeleski, freshman; Victoria Bennett, senior; Norah Garland, junior
Outlook: Gray, Chakraborty and Benson were Nos. 4-6, respectively, in the lineup last season and are slated to move up the ladder this year.
“We are excited to have 19 players come out this season. We may not have a dominant number one player, but we have a lot of good players that are very equal, and we will look to use that depth to our advantage,” Langevin said. “It will make for good competition every day in practice and give us solid play throughout our lineup. We have great leadership from our returning seniors Benson and Gray, and it looks like we will have a tight-knit group.”
Teams to beat: Portsmouth, Windham, Hollis-Brookline, Lebanon
Coach: Chris Burns (2nd year)
Last year: 5-6, lost in D-II prelims
Returning starters: Megan Brieger, senior; Abigail Coleman, sophomore; Jacqueline Heilshorn, sophomore; Skye Loto, senior; Anna Reiff, sophomore; Annie Thoms, senior
Outlook: “I think this team has a chance to compete at a much higher level this year,” Burns said. “We have many girls that returned from last year, so our skill level has improved tremendously. We still have much to work on in terms of strategy and footwork, but our knowledge of the game is higher than this same point in the season last year.”
The Bears are led by the dynamic senior duo of Loto and Brieger, who will fill the top two spots in Coe-Brown’s lineup.
“This pair will not only be tough to beat in singles, but as a doubles duo they will be able to compete with the best of them,” according to Burns.
Coach: David Goulet (7th year)
Last year: 1-7, reached D-II prelims
Returning starters: Emma Parsons, junior; Sarah Bennett, senior; Autumn LaGrenad, junior; Abby Collins, junior
Top newcomers: Hailey Ranfos, junior
Outlook: The Spartans only won one match last year, but it came at the right time, in round one of the D-II tournament, and four players are returning from that squad. The other five players, however, are brand new to tennis.
“We need to learn the game very quickly for the newcomers and the returning girls will help with that process,” Goulet said.
Coach: Jay Stadler (1st year)
Last year: 13-1, reached D-III semifinals
Returning starters: Addyson Stadler, senior; Callie Valeri, senior; Marissa Montagna, senior; Estelle Chmura, senior
Top newcomers: Ellie Scharpf, senior; Tori Montagna, sophomore
Outlook: With the driving force of four returning starters and some strong talent to supplement them, the Cougars have their sights on redeeming themselves after falling one step short of the championship match last season.
“Balanced in both singles and doubles as a team, captains Stadler, Valeri and Montagna are unifying the team and ensuring they all understand what it will take to succeed and achieve their goals,” coach Stadler said.