Experienced group ready to lead Belleville West tennis team
Now one of the true veterans among Southwestern Conference tennis coaches, Andy Brunner begins his 13th season at Belleville West — and 15th overall — with a team which should be among the best in southern Illinois this Spring.
The Maroons finished strong in ‘15. With sophomores Drew Boyles and Derek Henke establishing themselves as an up and coming doubles combinations, West placed second in the Belleville East Sectional, well back of local power Belleville East, but with plenty of young talent for the future.
Now 10 months later, the future has arrived for the Maroons. Belleville West opens its season on April 1-2 at the Edwardsville Invitational Tournament.
“We get kind of a late start but actually, I like the way our schedule is set up,’’ Brunner said. “The Edwardsville Tournament is always a real test early in the season and with New Trier coming down this year, it makes it even stronger then ever.
“But we’re looking forward to this season. The boys have worked hard on their games in the off-season and I see a lot of improvement. I think its going to be a good year.”
Solid in doubles
In their first season of playing doubles together, Henke and Boyles showed tremendous improvement in ‘15. The Maroons pair gave eventual sectional champions Chase Stumne and Jacob Hamilton of Belleville East a battle in the second set of the final, losing 6-0, 6-4. Henke and Boyles then won three of five matches at the state tournament.
“They both had a good year. Hamilton and Stumne made it all the way to the state semifinals and we also played a good team from New Trier a god match,’’ Brunner said of his top doubles team. “Both Derek and Drew have worked on their games and improves since last season. They’re hitting their serves with more pace and their strokes from both sides are more consistent.
“I know Edwardsville will have a good doubles team, but I would think we should be one of the top doubles teams around.’’
The rest of the Maroons
On top of being one of the doubles players in the state, Boyles will also be counted on to lead the Maroons in singles as their No. 1 player. Seniors Ian Burger and Nicholas Harry also return after solid junior campaigns and are battling for the 2-3 spots with Henke firmly holding down the No. 4 spot.
Seniors Sam Calhoun and Jack Langen will also see plenty of time in both singles and doubles and are vying for the 5-7 spots in singles with junior Austin Quandt. Quandt’s older brother Hayden Quandt was a former standout a few years ago.,
Junior Carter Tastad and sophomore Easton Jeromin round out the Maroons top nine players.
The race for the SWC title
Brunner said Edwardsville, with its usual talent and depth, will once again be the team to beat for the SWC title with O’Fallon, Belleville East and his Belleville West sqaud, also hopefully in the mix.
“Edwardsville always has great depth and I know O’Fallon has two very strong players at the top of its lineup,’’ Brunner said. “I know Belleville East lost a lot from last year but they have a couple of good freshmen coming in .
“I think we will be strong as well. We’ve had good competition through out challenge matches and that’s what you want.’’
‘Dean Criddle: 618-239-2661, @CriddleDean
This story was originally published March 15, 2016 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Experienced group ready to lead Belleville West tennis team."