After two years of boys tennis not having their full match schedule, the team is able to play out of conference matches and participate in more invitationals, varsity coach Dave Robare said. Because of COVID-19, the past two spring seasons have been shorter, and the team was not as prepared as they wanted to be for the state tournament.

“I’m really glad we got our full schedule back, with playing the out of conference meets,” he said. “The weekend invites are such a huge part of the season, that missing this the past two years hasn’t given the players a full experience they should have.”

 Although the team had lost some kids at the top of lineup and state qualifiers, there are many returners this year who will be able to take their place, varsity player Will Carroll ‘22 said.

“Lots of us have been playing together even before high school, so we’re all pretty close and have a good relationship,” Carroll said.

Another returner to the varsity squad, Jack McLane ‘24, also looked forward to playing with his teammates and was excited to start the season.

“It should be a pretty fun season with all the competition we will be going against,” McLane said. “I hope to not choke on big matches, make state, and overall just have a fun season.” 

LT and Hinsdale Central have always been very strong rivals, especially when it comes to boys tennis, varsity player Patrick Adams ‘23 said. Hinsdale Central always has solid competition and has won state twice in the past five years. 

“Our biggest challenge in the regular season is always Hinsdale Central,” Adams said. “They are a very strong team every year, so we need to go in with our A game when we play them.”

On April 24, LT played against Hinsdale Central, Adams said. They played strong, but ended up losing all matches, 7-0.

(followup quote from player or coach on how he think it went and what they can improve on)

Along with Hinsdale Central, Robare expects many other teams in the West Suburban Conference to be competitive and bring a solid lineup.

“Playing well in conference will be something we’re going to really focus on and hope to perform well in,” Robare said.

The team has two returning state qualifiers, Carroll and Mason Mazzone ‘22. With state just around the corner, they will have to step it up and fill in the shoes of the other qualifiers who graduated, Robare said.

“Although [Caroll and Mazzone] didn’t play doubles together, I could see them being an incredibly strong doubles team,” Robare said at the start of season. “We also have lots of youth to develop, and I [can] see some of the players achieving some pretty good results near the end of the season.” 

Adams’s main goal this season is to qualify for the state tournament. As a non-state qualifier last year, he knows he and his teammates will have to step up their game to get the results they hope to achieve.

“I think the most important part of doing well at state is getting everyone there in the first place,” Adams said. “Doing well in sectionals is going to make or break our performance in state, because if we aren’t able to take multiple people, those are going to be some major missed matches.”

The team will compete in Sectionals on May 20, in the SC tennis courts, at 1 p.m.