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Lakota West High School's junior varsity boys tennis team recently completed the best season in school history at that level.

But 11th-year coach Dale Hutzelman certainly didn't anticipate a 16-1 campaign heading into the season.

"I expected to have a winning year; we usually do have that," Hutzelman said. "But I didn't expect 16-1. I don't know year to year what my team makeup is going to be. That's contingent on the varsity, and the freshmen who come out."

The Firebirds' lone loss came to St. Xavier in the season finale, 4-1.

"We never really had any real close matches, up until the St. X match," Hutzelman said. "It was a good group, a very talented group of freshmen and sophomores. It was a good overall year for Lakota West tennis."

Nine players were on the roster — five freshmen and four sophomores.

"It's a talented group of nine," Hutzelman said. "They were very solid, stable, consistent. Each match throughout the year, they were able to answer the call. I give them a lot of credit. Tennis is just about every day, and they were able to pick themselves up after one day and do it again the next and be just as successful. I give them a lot of credit for that. They didn't let up."

Hutzelman's lineup consisted of sophomore Connor Johnson (first singles), sophomore Greg Heimann (second singles) and freshman Aaron Madaris (third singles) at the top.

Sophomore Arpan Patal and freshman George Nicholas were at first doubles, while brothers Nester and Max DeLeon manned second doubles. Freshmen John Girardot and Logan May rounded out West's roster.

"To get them ready to be varsity players," Hutzelman said of his goals. "There's just one goal mainly. That's why the JVs have no tournament or postseason. Everything is geared towards making them better players for the varsity."

And with six seniors on varsity, this year's JV crop will need to be ready to fill those shoes in 2009.

"There'll be a lot of competition for those varsity spots," Hutzelman said. "Our real successful season is a good indication hopefully for next year's varsity. Of course, there are differences. They'll have to play these next 10 months and get even better. They certainly have the right frame of mind and the right attitude to be good varsity players."

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5113 or smatthews@coxohio.com.

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