Sneha Kandi, Isabel Cepeda, Amanda Huser and Lizzy Kong return after advancing to the state tournament as juniors. Huser and Kong were district champions and the other returning senior, Nicole Reid, was a first team All-Greater Miami Conference selection at first doubles.
And, much like when the seniors were making names for themselves as freshmen, four freshmen battled through a four-day tryout of 45 players to make the varsity. Ananya Aggarwal will play first or second singles while classmates Emma Kruse, Sanjana Reddy and Megan Li also made the squad. Senior Shirley Yang adds even more depth.
“As always, we’ll rotate our kids between singles and doubles to help them develop their skills,” Reid said. “These kids have set their goals high and we’ll be asking them to stay focused and work hard to improve.”
In golf, Chad Layton takes over the girls team at Mason with Karen Byrd on maternity leave and will have to replace a lot of talent from the 2015 GMC champs.
A trio of seniors return in Vivienne Su, Natalie Anderson, and Meghan Perrin. All have played varsity since they were freshmen and Layton has been pleased with how they have stepped into the leadership role.
Sophomores Julanna Zhang and Madison Vinson and freshman Mullika Pandit round out the varsity rotation.
Tim Lambert also returns a veteran group to the boys golf team that finished second in the GMC and advanced to the district tournament after losing just a pair of golfers to graduation.
Standout Garrett Wood leads the senior class that includes Justin Kim, Jessie Brumley and Charlie Woolson.
While the Comets have to replace a couple of golfers, Lambert knows a lot of other schools in the GMC are in the same condition and looks for his squad to fight for the GMC title and more.
Lebanon: It may be a bit of an overhaul for Lebanon girls golf coach Pam Russell, but she does have one ace in the hole after a second-place finish in the Greater Western Ohio Conference South Division.
Maddie Owens returns after a second team All-GWOC season at the top spot and sophomore Paige Harper returns with varsity experience.
Add in sophomore Kaylyn Brown and the Warriors should be solid at the top three spots.
“We are a young team this year,” Russell said.
Todd Johnson has a bit more coming back on the boys side, having lost just one golfer to transfer in Ben Irvin.
Christian Bugher and Dylan Whitson both return to help pace the Warriors.
Lebanon girls tennis coach Tom Zsembik is looking for his squad to build on a 10-8 mark and second-place finish in the GWOC Silver tournament.
Seniors Katie Plzak and Jackie Brake return as does sophomore Katie Oliver.
In the new National West Division, the Warriors have to battle Springboro, Miamisburg and Northmont for the division title.
Kings: Knights boys golf coach John Karabinus takes a look at his roster and believes this may be the year.
Yes, the Knights were 2-4 in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference and 4-8 overall, but the Knights lost nobody from that squad.
“We think we can make some noise in the ECC,” Karabinus said. “We have a lot of experience coming back.”
Second team All-ECC selection Davis Jenkins and honorable mention All-ECC Matthew Shumar both return for their senior season as do classmates Zack Handorf, Hal John Lockwood and Nik Baumlein. Junior Jack Scharner is also back.
Add in Daniel Lee, a move-in from England, and the Knights have some depth.
“We have great numbers including some very nice underclassmen,” Karabinus said. “Watch for Freshman Jack Parnell.”
Kings opened the season with a first-place finish at the Goshen Warrior Invitational, shooting 320 as a team.
Brian Parkhurst’s girls team is in a bit of a rebuild mode after losing four seniors, including the team’s co-MVPs.
But the Knights still have some talent back in senior Loulu Kimbrell, juniors Halle Bledsoe-Junior and Kelsie Ballew and sophomores Sydnie Appell, Skylar Carr and Chloe Bernard.
Kings girls tennis coach Sarah Hennessey watched a lot of talent graduate in 2016.
The Knights lost seven seniors, five of whom were starters.
However, the Knights do return senior Lindsey Kaesemeyer and Cecile Reich.
Sophomore Meghan Gostel will also see time at doubles.
“Our progress has been great,” Hennessey said. “We have a lot of young players with a lot of potential. I think we could surprise some people this year.”
Little Miami: Little Miami girls tennis for the first time in a long time had enough players for a varsity and junior varsity squad after only having eight players on the roster a couple of years ago.
“To have over 20 kids out is exciting,” coach Mark LaPille said. “We are making a turnaround and that is exciting for the kids at Little Miami.”
Brooke Davis, Laura Grifes, Isabelle Hardesty and Catiebeth Stamper return from last year with freshman Cameryn Anderson looking to hold down the third singles spot for now and Sara Noyes also seeing time in the varsity rotation.
Little Miami golf coach Pam Rothermund is looking to build on a 10-5 season behind returning district qualifier senior Dante Losurdo and classmate Noah Wood.
The Panthers also have two sophomores and two freshmen rounding out the top six.
Girls coach Marianne Morris will have players getting a lot of experience with eight on the squad. Mallory Wright and Hannah Berardinis look to be the top two for the Panthers with Marinda Shell and Kelsey Farrell making an instant contribution.
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