2017 Faith Lutheran Boys Tennis Capsule

FAITH LUTHERAN

League: Class 4A Sunset

Head coach: Jeff Foley, seventh season

2016 record: 12-6 (9-3 Northwest, third)

Returning lettermen: Seven

Top athletes: Aaron Bailey (Sr.), Maxwell Blum (Jr.), Micheal Markantonis (Sr.), Ryan Brooks (Sr.), Jonah Grepke (Sr.)

Outlook: The Crusaders have seven lettermen back from last year’s squad and got a big boost with the addition of Bailey, the 2015 Division I state singles runner-up.

Bailey will play No. 1 singles, moving Blum (36-10 last season), a first-team all-league selection, to No. 2 singles.

Markantonis and Brooks (both second-team all-league selections) and Grepke are in the hunt for the No. 3 singles spot.

The Crusaders have some work to do in filling doubles slots left open by graduation, but Foley “expects intense competition for those spots from both the returning cast and several eighth graders that were part of the successful middle school team.

“The new scheduling format makes every match critical,” added Foley, who has aspirations of qualifying for the postseason again.