Of the top four teams in the PIAA District 1 3A boys’ tennis team championships last spring, Chester County produced three of them – Conestoga (placed second), Unionville (third) and Downingtown East (fourth), and the Pioneers went on to win the PIAA 3A state team championship. Chester County teams look strong again this spring – here’s a beginning-of-the-season look at them:
Avon Grove: Junior captain Joe Ingram will be back to play his third season as a singles player for the Red Devils. Junior Mason Walker, who played first doubles last spring, will be making the move to singles after gaining tournament experience in the offseason. Sophomore Tucker Ross and juniors Dylan Ball, Aaditya Joshi and PJ Boehmler are experienced players who should make an impact this season. Avon Grove head coach Diane Maund said, “We have a key player, (senior) Collin Duff, recovering from an injury. That may be a big hurdle for our team during the first matches but his leadership and dedication is a boost with his presence at practices. With many returning varsity players, I hope our greatest strength will be the same grit and team camaraderie we forged last year that got us to the district playoffs.”
Bishop Shanahan: The Eagles will be led by sophomore Daniel Gallagher (second team Daily Local News all-area in singles last spring) at first singles, senior Thomas Duncheskie at first doubles and sophomore Carter Steinetz at second doubles. Other players to watch include freshman Liam O’Sullivan (second singles) and junior Emil Eusemann (third singles). Shanahan head coach Michael Owens said, “Our biggest strengths are at first and second singles. Daniel Gallagher had a very good rookie season last year at first singles, and Liam O’Sullivan is a very good player and will only get better. Our biggest challenges will be replacing all of our varsity doubles, which we lost to graduation. We need last year’s JV players, and this year’s new players, to step up and fill those positions.”
Coatesville: The Red Raiders have a small roster, but have several experienced returnees, including senior Evan Byerley at first singles and senior Sam Campos at third singles. Another player to watch is sophomore Caleb Campos at second singles.
Conestoga: The Pioneers, defending PIAA 3A state champions, lost their top two singles players, Chait Krishna and Justin Xu, to graduation, but return many of the players who helped them win the state team title last spring. Key returning players include junior Rohan Rao (singles, sat out last spring due to injury), senior Voyin Markovic (singles), senior Basil Lubiniecki (doubles), senior Francis Qin (doubles), senior Derek Qin (doubles), junior Ethan Davidson (doubles) and junior Raphie Lubinecki (doubles). One promising newcomer is freshman Ethan Sun, who will probably fill a top singles spot. Conestoga head coach Britt Aimone said, “We have a seasoned team this year, with the majority of the players being upperclassmen. Our work ethic and positive outlook and energy is our main strength.”
Devon Prep: The Tide have many returning players this spring, including juniors Pierce Rohlfing, Chris Rohner, James Gabriele, David Hewitt, Liam MacDonald and John Barnhart; sophomores Will Shank and Nace Barry; and seniors Ron Wolfe and Diego Alonso. Freshman Gustav Najdek is a newcomer to watch. Devon Prep head coach Austin Starczewski said, “One of our biggest strengths is experience and the chemistry that was built last year. Our team is still very young, and we have to continue to progress when it comes to leadership, focus and commitment.”
Downingtown East: The Cougars feature a relatively young squad, with key returnees including junior Shrihan Madam (first singles), sophomore Soumil Patel (third singles) and a quartet of doubles players in sophomore Vishruth Madam, junior Ashwin Natarajan, senior Brandon Gabrys and senior Nico Pascale. A newcomer to watch is freshman Arudra Ravikanth.
Downingtown West: All of the Whippets’ singles players are returning – junior Leo Shi, junior Cash Bailey and senior Jack Sheldon, and all three of them played USTA team and tournaments in the offseason with UTRs in the 6 range. Returning doubles players include senior Akshit Arunachalam, sophomore Alexander Sheldon and junior Samarth Kolanupaka. Newcomers include freshmen Justin Brown and Nolan Stocker. D-West head coach Justin DePietropaolo noted, “Both of them are USTA tournament players with 5 and 4 UTRs respectively. They should break into the varsity lineup and make an impact. We are a very deep team with almost all of our players, including freshmen, who play competitive tennis in the offseason. Last year we were 13-4 and we’re hoping to be the same if not better. Our schedule is a little tougher as we added Radnor, Central Bucks East and Central Bucks West.”
Great Valley: Key returnees include Vivek Arvind (third singles last spring, likely first singles this year) and Anuj Awatramani (one of the Patriots’ best doubles players last spring). Other players to watch include Jimmy Xiao, Josh Verano and Daniel Doekes, all of whom were starting doubles players last year. The Patriots lost their first and second singles players of last season to graduation last spring. Great Valley head coach Gerry McGrath said, “Our whole lineup is up in the air…. The mindset of every player will need to adjust in order for us to find success. That’s a tall order, especially since we will have a very tough schedule. But……that’s why you play the matches.”
Kennett: The Blue Demons are a young squad, with five freshmen, three juniors, five sophomores and only one senior. Blue Demon junior co-captain Logan Leighton is at first singles, sophomore co-captain Will Engle is at second singles, and the third singles spot will be shared by freshmen Ryan Church and Carlos Amezcua. The Blue Demons have a strong doubles pairing in juniors Aaron Wilson and Rowen Skinner, who received district honorable mention last year.
Malvern Prep: The Friars are led by senior co-captain Hayden Fisher, who received All-Inter-Ac honors the last two years, at first singles. The rest of the singles positions will be filled by junior Michael Guardiola, senior Patrick McKeever and junior Aidan Diegidio. The doubles teams are led by seniors Coleman McGinley, co-captain Daniel Simpson, co-captain Drew Opperman, Patrick Buysse, Luca Webb, JJ Guillaume, Rhett Bower, Luca Markowski, James Bobbitt, Parker Dudley, and Ben Cottone. Malvern Prep first-year head coach Michael Rose said, “This year, we have a very nice non-league schedule, and we look forward to a very competitive non-league and Inter-Ac season.”
Oxford: The Hornets, who graduated their top four players from last spring, are looking to sophomores Ben Fields and Owen Graf and seniors Kevin Meiler and Drew Fields to provide strength at singles, and senior Dylan Graham to provide stability at doubles. Oxford head coach Justin Hostetter said, “We have a nice mix of upperclassmen and youth throughout the lineup. I’m excited to work with a lot of first and second year players who are very new to the sport. They’re putting a lot of hard work into learning the game.”
Unionville: The Longhorns top two key returning players are junior Matt Miller at first singles and junior Andrew Ou at second singles. Another player to watch will be junior Andy Ye at third singles. Unionville head coach Jimmy O’Rourke said, “While we have several leaders in the junior class of 2025, we have no seniors this year so we are pretty young overall. Doubles is always a strength for Unionville and we are hoping that tradition continues. Sometimes teams are singles-heavy or doubles-heavy, but this year we are hoping to have a nice balance. We are looking to have another strong year in the Ches-Mont this year and in Districts. The goal is always to play well in Districts and hopefully earn another ticket to States in May.”
West Chester East: Viking junior Ben Gao at first singles is the key returning player – last spring, he became only the second player from West Chester East to qualify for the PIAA state singles championship. Other players to watch include junior Jacob Vengal, senior Yug Mittal and junior Cole Aubart. West Chester East head coach Mike Orenshaw said, “With a mix of returning players and new talent our team is hoping to be competitive in our league and improve upon last season.”
West Chester Henderson: The Warriors graduated 11 seniors from the team last spring. Prospective singles player this spring are juniors Patrick Sinnott, Bensen Li, Agastya Singh and Nate Hinsworth, Max Cooper and freshman Zach Evans. Warrior head coach Peter Sok said, “This season is a rebuilding year for us. We are in the process of doing challenge matches to determine positions.”
West Chester Rustin: The Golden Knights return most of their lineup from last spring, when they finished third in the Ches-Mont American Division, with seniors taking 10 of the top 11 spots. Sophomore Anish Arora will be at second singles spot again behind senior Jack Benedetto, who looks to qualify for the District singles tournament. Rustin seniors Vijay Upadhyay, Cameron Benedetto, Shane McCune and Robert Pileggi will hold down the top two doubles spots. Rustin head coach Billy McElroy said, “Our goal is to qualify for Team Districts this year after being the last team out last spring.”
