Net Capsules

KingCo 3A

Bellevue Wolverines

Coach - Chris Hoffman, fourth year.

Last year - 7-4 league, tied for fifth in KingCo.

Returning players - Rick Smith, sr.; David Irons, sr.; Shuyler Mowe, jr.; Zach Green, so.

Key newcomers - Tyler Hass, fr.; Kevin Zyan, so.

Outlook - Wolverines should be among league's best, having defeated Sammamish already this season. Smith advanced to the district tournament last year in singles and Irons played No. 1 singles in first match against Sammamish.

Cedarcrest Red Wolves

No tennis team

Interlake Saints

Coach - Jerry Akita, 29th year.

Last year - 1-9 league, 12th in KingCo.

Returning players - Chris Pilkey, so.; Yih-Wei Chien, jr.; Joe McDermott, jr.; John Giraudo, sr.; Jake Johnson, jr.; Kevin Crowe, sr.; Cory Lanman, sr.; Todd Hussey, sr.

Key newcomers - None.

Outlook - The Saints return almost everybody from last year's team. They hope added experience will provide more victories. Pilkey pushed Newport's Damon Morris, a near state qualifier last year, to three sets in first match.

Issaquah Indians

Coach - Ed McCormack, first year.

Last year - 10-2, tied for second in KingCo.

Returning players - Nick Thomasen, sr.; Greg Ishmael, sr.; Thor Sanderson, sr.; Ryan Gilbert, sr.; Kevin Chou, sr.

Key newcomers - Arun Sandarim, sr.; Luke Siebert, so.; Brian Palmer, sr.; Dan Koob, sr.; Kin Ho, sr.; Chris Retalick, sr.; Josh Jacobs, sr.

Outloook - Indians have 14 seniors among their 34 players and should contend for league's second spot behind Mercer Island. Thomasen and Ishmael are possible state qualifiers as doubles team.

Liberty Patriots

Coach - Ira Moss, first year.

Returning players - Chad Dilitz, jr.; Mike Williams, sr.; Jared Tannenberg, jr.

Key newcomers - Mark Borys, so.; MacKenzie Graham, so.; Alex Fichtenholtz, fr.; Michael Harrison, sr.; Robert Held, so.; Derick Clardy, so.

Outlook - Not a lot of tennis experience on this team. Goal is to improve fundamentally during the season and get prepared to win more next year.

Mercer Island Islanders

Coach - Joyce Hedlund, 3rd year.

Last year - 12-0, KingCo champions, district champions, Class AAA state champions.

Returning players - Dalibor Snyder, sr.; Michael Beers, sr.; Royce Yuen, jr.; Nick LeClercq, so.; Matt Mormino, so.; Ryan Eakes, sr.; Aaron Eng, sr.

Key newcomers - Maxwell Rainey, fr.; Cha Dierickx, fr.; Jeremy Cheung, jr.; Sunny Wu, sr.

Outlook - Islanders were hurt by the loss of junior Nick Rainey, who finished second in Class AAA singles last year but decided not to turn out this season. Still, the defending state champions are loaded. Snyder, ranked No. 4 in Boys 18 singles in this region, was part of a doubles team that placed second at state tournament. Newcomers Rainey and Diericky are both ranked in the Boys 16 singles and there is plenty of depth. Look for the Islanders to repeat in KingCo and contend for state honors again.

Mount Si Wildcats

Coach - Jolene Gensheimer, fourth year.

Last year - 8-4, fourth in Seamount League.

Returning players - David Butler, jr.; Lucas Johnson, sr.; Thomas Fennel, jr.

Key newcomers - Todd Barry, fr.; Brian Ray, jr.; Max Gordon, jr.; Jacob Morgan, so.; T.J. Johnson, so.

Outlook - Program has developed steadily under Gensheimer, but last year's fourth-place Seamount finish was largely because of strong girls team in combined format. Wildcats' goal is to finish sixth or higher.

Newport Knights

Coach - Jack Wilson, second year.

Last year - 10-2, tied for second in KingCo.

Returning players - Chris Aw, sr.; Rob Condiotty, jr.; Scott Friedman, jr.; Damon Morris, sr.; Adam Short, jr.; Mike Yu, jr.

Key newcomers - Arpan Pedduturi, fr.; Tyler Kimsey, fr.

Outlook - Knights may be Mercer Island's chief competitor in KingCo 3A. Morris, who lost in a loser-out, winner-to-state match at the district tournament last spring, leads a deep group of six returning players.

Sammamish Totems

Coach - Eva Christo, first year.

Last year - 10-2, tied for second in KingCo.

Returning players - Wesely Lu, sr.; Stephen Lu, so.; Drew Eicher, so.; Peng Tea, so.

Key newcomers - Jimmy Shen, fr.; Kartik Varadarazan, sr.; Kevin Chu, sr.; Huy Duong, fr.; Patrick Liu, jr.; Eddie Liu, fr.

Outlook - Totems, despite loss to Bellevue this week, should challenge league's best teams. Top four players are excellent and there is talent down the roster. Wesely Lu, a district semifinalist in doubles last spring, has state potential.

Skyline Spartans

Coach - Mike Sill, first year, 13th overall.

Last year - School's first year.

Returning players - No team last year.

Key newcomers - B.J. Jones, fr.; Michael Tobias, so.; Wade Hansaker, jr.; Alex Lee, so.; Jason Edgar, fr.; Colin Baynes, so.; Justin Rupple, fr.; Kohl Eisenhour, fr.; Steogen Jenkins, jr.; Erik Denkinger, jr.

Outlook - Spartans should contend with most middle-of-the-pack teams in their first season in KingCo 3A. Spartans won't play on home courts this season because they aren't completed yet.

KingCo 4A

Bothell Cougars

Coach - Michael Pizzo, 14th year.

Last year - 2-9 league, 11th in KingCo.

Returning players - Anand Venkatesan, jr.; Justin Jacobs, sr.; Ernie Esser, sr.

Key newcomers - Luke Reeves, so.; Kevin Waller, so.

Outlook - Cougars were 2-3 against KingCo 4A competition last year, and lost two of those matches 5-4. With three returning players, they should be competitive this year.

Eastlake Wolves

Coach - Bud Peterson, second year.

Last year - 2-8 league, 10th in KingCo.

Returning players - Brandon Keeley, jr.; Chad Towns, jr.; Richard Clive, jr.; Gene Noh, jr.

Key newcomers - Mike Wilson, sr.

Outlook - Wolves among league favorites. Four returning players are solid, but they'll have to do better than last year, when they were 2-3 against teams that will be in KingCo 4A this year.

Garfield Bulldogs

Coach - David Winfield, second year.

Returning players - Jeff Chang, sr.; Matt Look, jr.; Per Sandstrom, soph.; Miko Lim, sr.; Jonathan Hubert, soph.; Matt Lee, soph.; Daniel Vaughan, jr.; Brad Hy, sr.; Cameron Ellis, sr.

Key newcomers - None.

Outlook - Good experience returning, but new league may be learning experience. "We expect to be in every match, but we know nothing about KingCo so we're treading on totally unfamiliar territory," Winfield said.

Franklin Earthquake

Coach - Greg Dart, fourth year.

Returning players - Jedidiah Dade, sr.; Mark Ramos, sr.; Huy Nguyen, sr.; John David, so.

Key newcomers - Christian Youtz, fr.

Outlook - Young, inexperienced Quakes will struggle in first season of KingCo. Dade went undefeated during regular season last year. Earthquake another team having to postpone matches until they have enough practices.

Inglemoor Vikings

Coach - Marc Tomando, third year.

Last year - 4-7, ninth in KingCo.

Returning players - Ryan Toivola, sr.; Adam Zaitz, sr.; Arul Krishnan, sr.; Scott Fitzgerald, sr.; K.C. Nash, jr.; Matt Anderton, jr.

Key newcomers - Mike Uffens, so.; Brian Baugh, so.

Outlook - Vikings among league favorites because of their depth. There are no star players, with the possible exception of Toivola. However, Nos. 1-6 are pretty even, probably because most of the Vikings play only during season.

Juanita Rebels

Coach - Taylor Terao, first year.

Last year - 0-10, 13th in KingCo.

Returning player - Cuong Ngo, jr.

Key newcomers - Chris Geraci, so.; Matt Leschuck, so.

Outlook - Rebels return only one player from last year's team. They hope influx of new personnel will help win a match or two.

Lake Washington Kangaroos

Coach - Jim Waters, third year.

Last year - 7-4, tied for fifth in KingCo.

Returning players - Joe Phillip, sr.; Peter Brende, sr.; Edo Wolters, sr.; Travis Kalamakis, sr.

Key newcomers - David Huang, so.; Eric Brende, so.; Colin Eleckner, jr.; Ryan Clark, jr.

Outlook - Deep team went undefeated against KingCo 4A competition last year. Without powerful Bellevue schools, Issaquah and Mercer Island to compete with this fall, Kangs should contend for KingCo 4A title.

Redmond Mustangs

Coach - Marceil Whitney, second year.

Last year - 5-7 league, tied for seventh in KingCo.

Returning players - Lam Nguyen, jr.; Robert Bordner, sr.; Ryan Bruett, sr.; Robbie Matson, sr.; Chad Baerwaldt, jr.; Dan LeVeque, jr.; Davey Dunlap, jr.

Key newcomers - Ryan Burklo, sr.; Ye-San Lin, so.; (No. 2) Mat Brown, so.; Terrance Keenan, so.; Matt Hall, jr.

Outlook - Mustangs are among the league favorites. They have as many year-round players as any in KingCo 4A. Nguyen and Lin are particularly strong, could challenge for state tournament berths. Next year will be even stronger.

Roosevelt Roughriders

Coach - Jake Moe, fifth year.

Returning players - David Fine, jr.; Eric Rose, so.; Yung Ku, sr.; Robbie Ames, so.

Key newcomers - Steve Fong, so.; Tyson Obleada, so.; Alex Morrison, so.; Rick Nishimura, jr.; John Turecek, jr.; Mitch Clawson, so.; Parker Anderson, so.; David Omenns, fr.

Outlook - Teds are well-balanced team, no stars, but depth will keep them in most matches. Expect them to finish in middle of pack.

Woodinville Falcons

Coach - Alvin Horn, first year.

Last year - 5-7 league, tied for seventh in KingCo.

Returning players - David Piscitelli, sr.; Craig Wolfe, sr.; Sina Nazemi, jr.; Chris Ross, jr.; Dan Peterson, jr.

Key newcomers - Brian Carter, so.; Jason Jensen, so.; Tory Shimono, so.; Brian Butler, so.

Outlook - Falcons were 2-4 against KingCo 4A competition last year and hope to challenge for upper division placing. Next year Falcons will be really tough. Horn believes this is Woodinville's best team in four years.