The Park Hill South boys tennis team is on the hardcourt this spring in preparation for another season of tennis with hopes of leaving a mark.
Head coach Ian Cunliff is back for his 15th season with the Panthers, assisted by Connie Wuebben and Zach Gummersheimer.
The Panthers will rely on senior leadership from co-captains Noah Patel and Noah Slaughter. The Panthers also return junior Henry Jacobs, a reigning all-conference star.
The Panthers have expectations to compete for conference and district championships. Just like any other team in the same district and conference as Park Hill, a conference and district championship won’t come easy.
The Trojans may be the Panthers’ biggest obstacle to overcome this year. Despite going 13-3-2 last year, two of Park Hill South’s three losses came to their northern nemesis, including a 5-1 defeat in the district semifinals.
Cunliff likes the depth he has seen in his roster. He is excited for the new varsity trio of junior Henry VanAsselt, sophomore Graham Albani and freshman Sam Patel as they add some quality and talented depth to help the team in achieving its goals.
“I think the depth of our team is excellent,” Cunliff said. “With half of the varsity team new to that level, it will be interesting to see how well they compete under pressure.”
Park Hill South’s season will come thick and fast after starting on home court against Lee’s Summit North on April 1. They will compete on six of the first nine days of April before settling in down through the end of April until the conference tournament on April 26.