Morris/Sussex 2023 boys tennis team-by-team preview capsules
NJAC-Independence
Boonton
Coach: Gregg LaPointe, second season
Last season: 2-13
Returnees: Sr. Jack Liska, Jr. Christopher McMaster, So. Matthew Ribardo.
Newcomers: Sr. Liam Bostrop, Sr. Jesus Calderon, So. Scott Soukup, So. Micha Gursoy, So. Haider Ali, So. Patrick Blake, So. Peter Clear, Fr. James Lobb, Fr. Babur Ceynek, Fr. Adrian Calderon, Fr. Kent Burbridge.
Outlook: Young Boonton hopes to continue to improve.
Hanover Park
Coach: Tara Geisser, 10th season
Last season: 8-7
Returnees: Sr. Viren Shah, Jr. Odera Orjiekwe, Jr. Francis Murray, Jr. Kfir Katzav.
Outlook: Hanover Park's singles players return for a third season.
Kinnelon
Coach: Mark Landzert, third season
Last season: 1-10
Returnees: Sr. Christian Cerulo, Sr. Sullivan DenBleyker, Sr. Louis Waibel, Sr. Ben Davis, So. Pratik Patel.
Newcomers: Jr. Zack Nelson, So. Henry Evans.
Outlook: Kinnelon returns five starters.
Pequannock
Coach: Brandon Horetsky, third season
Last season: 3-12
Returning letter-winners: Sr. Khalil Pirbhai, Sr. Ryan Heske, Sr. Zain Khashan, Jr. Jacob Swanson.
Newcomers: So. Ryan Savastano, So. Rowen Barthmus, Fr. Ryan Moore, Fr. Michael D'Amico, Fr. Russell Eddeh.
Outlook: The Golden Panthers hope to be competitive in the NJAC-Independence.
Whippany Park
Coach: Rachel Romano, 17th season
Last season: 5-4
Returnees: Sr. Jacob Rha, Sr. Chendur Khary, Sr. Adam Trinh, Sr. Daniel Song, Jr. Andy Cho, Jr. Joshua Young, So. Efan Lin.
Outlook: Whippany Park has almost the entire lineup returning.
NJAC-Liberty
Madison
Coach: Anton Carrera, second season
Last season: 11-5, NJAC-Liberty co-champion
Returnees: Sr. Charles Cripe, Sr. Ryan Poole, Jr. Lukas Kolega.
Newcomers: So. Broderick Dineen, So. Dashiell James, Fr. Christopher Lee.
Outlook: Much of the squad graduated, leaving Madison rebuilding.
Morristown Beard
Coach: Brett Michel, 12th season
Last season: 11-5, NJAC-Liberty co-champion; fourth, Morris County Tournament
Returnees: Sr. Ian Michel, Sr. Jonas Weinman, Sr. Aaron Hong, Sr. Max Wang, Sr. Ethan D'Andrea, Jr. Caleb Lokken-Bradford.
Newcomers: So. Griffin Halper.
Outlook: With six returning letter-winners, the Crimson expect to be competitive in the NJAC-Liberty, MCT, Prep B and the NJSIAA Tournament.
Mountain Lakes
Coach: Sean Maurizi, second season
Last season: 6-11
Returnees: Sr. Benjamin Kleiner, So. Jonathan Barnett.
Outlook: Many returning players will help Mountain Lakes develop.
Parsippany
Coach: Michael Miller, eighth season
Last season: 8-8
Returnees: Sr. Tej Moradia, Jr. Ronak Patel, Jr. Sakthivel Rajendran, Jr. Max Booker, Jr. Vihaan Patel.
Newcomers: So. Krish Pipalia, Fr. Rathnavel Rajendran.
Outlook: Parsippany hopes to build on last year's record.
Parsippany Hills
Coach: Dave Bongiovanni, third season
Last season: 11-3, NJAC-Independence champion
Returnees: Sr. Het Shah, Sr. Shiv Patel.
Newcomers: Sr. Christian Ofrecia.
Outlook: The Vikings hope to succeed in the NJAC-Liberty.
NJAC-American
Chatham
Coach: James Cai, 11th season
Last season: 16-3, 11-1 NJAC-American co-champion
Returnees: Sr. Oskar Jaroker, Sr. Vishan Vyas, Sr. Saurav Patel, Jr. Riley Becker, Jr. Andrew Becker, Jr. Jamie Eckles, Jr. Joseph Yang.
Newcomers: So. Oscar Bruu-Syversen, Fr. Davis Zhang.
Outlook: Experienced Chatham hopes to contend for the Morris County and NJSIAA Tournament titles.
Delbarton
Coach: John Thompson, 31st season
Last season: 17-9, NJAC-American co-champion; Morris County Tournament champion
Returnees: Sr. Anthony Reale, Sr. Arjun Bobba, Sr. Jack Wells, Sr. James Lian, Jr. Jack Gibbons, So. Hudson Bonetti.
Newcomers: Sr. Chris Lee, Jr. Julien Dietrich, Jr. Gavin Tripido, So. Dylan Scarpati, Fr. Alex Choi, Fr. Hugh Weldon, Fr. Chase Eagan.
Outlook: Delbarton has won 19 of the last 20 MCT titles, and hopes to add another to its resume.
Mendham
Coach: Jeff Tukel, 17th season
Last season: 16-8; NJSIAA North 2, Group 2 champion
Returnees: Sr. Owen Kutlu, Sr. Ben Hodges, Sr. Vincenzo Tarsi, Jr. Owen Kilmer, Jr. Arya Gorti, So. Alex Russo, So. Anthony Levine.
Newcomers: Sr. Liam Kilmer.
Outlook: Mendham hopes its five returning players will help defend the sectional title.
Montville
Coach: Ken Sachs, 29th season
Last season: 13-9
Returnees: Sr. Ethan Stovenski, Sr. Andrew Benson, Sr. Peter Elias, Jr. Ryan Sun.
Newcomers: Sr. Chase Blumenthal, Sr. Khush Parikh, Sr. Aadit Nagar, Sr. Leo Jiang, Jr. Havish Boda.
Outlook: Montville returns significant experience.
Morris Hills
Coach: Meaghan Barger, seventh season
Last season: 18-1, 10-0, NJAC-National champion; fourth, Morris County Tournament
Returnees: So. Arya Mujumdar, So. Samarth Desai, So. Veer Gupta, So. Yash Gupta.
Newcomers: Sr. Neil Agarwal, Sr. Arav Luthra, Sr. Anish Chidella, Jr. Kavin Sawant.
Outlook: Experienced Morris Hills hopes to step up to the challenge of the NJAC-American.
Flashback! Morris Hills freshmen twins collecting, refurbishing tennis rackets for Newark nonprofit
Morristown
Coach: Lance Lieberman, 12th season
Last season: 8-12
Returnees: Sr. Jared Lim, Sr. Ethan Jinks, Sr. Jacob Sommer, So. Shriram Vasudevan.
Newcomers: Sr. Edwin Rencarge, So. Aidan Orbeta, Fr. Alper Kumlu, Fr. Charlie Beyer.
Outlook: The Colonials expect to be consistent, despite graduating three three-year starters.
Sparta
Coach: Mike Wille, 12th season
Last season: 7-10; third, HWS Tournament
Returnees: Sr. Thomas Schottland, Sr. Robbie Matkiwsky, Sr. Aidan Mahoney, Jr. Andrew Young, Jr. Charlie Canzoniero.
Newcomers: Jr. Liam Thomas, Fr. Graham Mahoney.
Outlook: Veteran Sparta hopes to contend in the HWS and NJSIAA Tournaments.
NJAC-National
Morris Knolls
Coach: Mike Mugavero, fifth season
Last season: 10-6
Returnees: Sr. Vraj Patel, Sr. Tej Patel, Sr. Nathan Huang, Sr. Mithresh Aswath Gayathri, Sr. Jack Pollard, Sr. Colin Pollard, Sr. Benjamin Brandt, Jr. Shakthi Kumaravel, Jr. Sean Fetters, Jr. Eli Pikus, Jr. Joseph Cian, So. Timothy Hsu, So. Marek Kazik, So. Eric Alexander.
Newcomers: Jr. Sava Prvulovic, Fr. Anay Gondha, Fr. Nicholas Zeniak, Fr. Jack Whitney, Fr. Frankie Reheis, Fr. Aniket Parikh.
Outlook: Veteran Morris Knolls hopes to build on last spring's success.
Mount Olive
Coach: Daniel Grzywacz, 15th season
Last season: 7-12
Returnees: Sr. Bryan Thomas, Sr. Kushal Somayaji, Sr. Jordan Alexander, Jr. Ricci Granber, Jr. Charlie Stoakley, Jr. Johan Chacko, Jr. Joaquain Villeral, So. Rishon Pudota.
Outlook: Mount Olive hopes to compete in the NJAC-National.
Randolph
Coach: Dan DiNozzi, sixth season
Last season: 4-14
Returnees: Sr. Narain Sriram, Sr. Rishi Thota, Sr. Brett Isralowitz, Jr. Darren Gao, Jr. Rishay Patel.
Newcomers: Jr. Kevin Tish, Jr. Lukas Visser.
Outlook: The veteran Rams hope to improve.
Roxbury
Coach: Rob Doyle, first season
Last season: 3-10
Returnees: Sr. Brennan Andrews, Sr. Nick Andrade, Jr. Justin Masi.
Outlook: Doyle inherits a rebuilding squad from Peter Flynn, the coach for six seasons.
West Morris
Coach: Kelsey Matkowski, first season
Last season: 0-11
Returning letter-winners: Sr. Aidan McCoy, Jr. Arin Patel, So. Alex Trezza, So. Nick Levin.
Newcomers: Jr. Logan Rauschenberger, Jr. Ryan Pelrine, Fr. Marvin Du, Fr. Justin Du, Fr. Joao Nocera, Fr. Muhammad Mughees, Fr. Jay Tadinada.
Outlook: Matkowski takes over a balanced squad from Brent Maczko, the coach for 15 years.
NJAC-Colonial
High Point
Coach: Jesse Strehl, third season
Last season: 4-9
Returning letter-winners: Jr. Chase Krisanda, Jr. Nolan Wehrli, Jr. Isaac Schuman, Jr. Carter Van Stone, Jr. Devin Rosser, So. Zach Sprung.
Newcomers: Jr. Jack Lesch, So. Leo Castillo.
Outlook: The Wildcats hope to progress.
Hopatcong
Coach: Traci Duffy, 23rd season
Last season: 0-11
Returnees: Sr. Jonathan Karram.
Newcomers: Sr. Jason Delurski, Sr. Brandon Enger, Sr. Nicholas Jarrell, Jr. Adrian Baez, Jr. Michael Coolican, Jr. Thomas Galvez, Jr. Danilo Lalo, Fr. Dominick Amella, Fr. Juan Duque-Martinez, Fr. Antonio Goncalvez.
Outlook: The Chiefs are learning to play and love tennis.
Kittatinny
Coach: Al Paolucci, 25th season
Last season: 13-1, 12-0 NJAC-Colonial champion; fifth, HWS Championships
Returnees: Jr. Rutger Vitez, Jr. Ryan Huddock.
Newcomers: Sr. Angus Corpus, Jr. Logan Sellers, Jr. Dylan Zupkey.
Outlook: The Cougars hope to continue their success, despite graduating six starters.
Lenape Valley
Coach: Eric Schuman, second season
Last season: 3-9
Returnees: So. Sean Palermo.
Newcomers: Sr. Briana Barahona Lopez, Sr. Christian Barahona Lopez, Jr. Ounuche Adjeob, Jr. Akshat Patel, Jr. Michael Sheperd, Jr. Matthew Walter.
Outlook: Moylan is the Patriots' third coach in as may seasons.
Newton
Coach: Chris Boyle, 26th season
Last season: 8-7
Returning letter-winners: Sr. Stephen Miller, Sr. Nick DeFini, Sr. Billy Widgren, Sr. Felipe Navarez, Sr. Arjun Amin, Jr. Frankie Lubrano.
Newcomers: Sr. Josh Johnson, Sr. Nick Christiansen, Sr. Dylan Olsen, So. Ed Denne.
Outlook: The Braves hope to contend for a division title.
Vernon
Coach: Ray Loughren, fifth season
Last season: 12-4
Returning letter-winners: Sr. Morgan Freifelder, Sr. Michael Malolepszy, Sr. Luke Keating, Sr. Alex Keating, Jr. Owen Young, So. Michael Onysko-Koch.
Newcomers: Sr. Joseph Costa.
Outlook: Veteran Vernon is focused on success.
Wallkill Valley
Coach: Diane Brown, 13th season
Last season: 9-7
Returning letter-winners: Jr. William Hasbrouck, Jr. Elijah McLean, Jr. Josiah Simmons, Jr. Lucio Campa, So. Tim Choi.
Newcomers: Sr. Logic Ebelle, So. Noah DeRenzo, So. Aiden Ehlberg, So. David Hutchinson, So. Matthew Lara, So. Shawn Delapaz, Fr. Jeremy Rockwell.
Outlook: With five varsity players returning, the Rangers expect to show improvement.
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: NJ high school tennis: 2023 Morris/Sussex team previews
