Girls tennis: Scouting Northwest

MID-SUBURBAN LEAGUEBarringtonCoach: Tracy Waters-Miller (14th season)

Outlook: Barrington continued its reign atop the Mid-Suburban League as the Fillies netted their 22nd consecutive conference title in 2016. Nidhi Jha (a two-time top-16 doubles player) and Sara Amano (in the top 16 in doubles last fall) return to the Fillies for their senior year, along with Maggie Tippet, juniors Mounika Gadiraju Kathleen and Caroline Tomasian. Waters-Miller is optimistic about her team's depth but thinks Fremd's experience and overall build makes the Vikes the team to beat in the MSL.

Coach's comment: "(Our goal is to) chase the win, not avoid the loss," Waters-Miller said. "We have the strength of schedule, which helps us play the top players. It's important to have great teamwork - it's a privilege to play on the BHS team."

Buffalo GroveCoach: Kevin Schrammel (13th season)

Outlook: While posting a 9-3 overall record in 2016, the Bison notched a first-place finish in the MSL East and tied Palatine for third place in the MSL tournament. Buffalo Grove returns seniors Dasha Ignatova, Jessica Prus, juniors Kina Tamai and Emma Boyd. Christina Harisiadis, Danielle Allaire and Allison Schultz have moved on to college.

Coach's comment: "(Our goal is to) win the East, finish top three in the conference and qualify a team for the state meet," Schrammel said. "The MSL East looks pretty competitive this year. All the dual meets in our division will be important and key to reaching our goals."

ConantCoach: Dave Koleno (sixth season)

Outlook: The Cougars' 2016 campaign ended with a 6-9 overall finish, but they were able to qualify both doubles teams to the state tournament. Nikitha Lakshmninarayanan (No. 1 singles) and Ashley Yoon (No. 2 doubles) are the two returning state qualifiers as Gaby Kaminski (No. 1 doubles) and Francesca Bucaro (No. 2 doubles) graduated. Other Conant returning varsity players include seniors Ronita Harigovind, Sophia Zorrilla, Sanjana Viswanthan and junior Grace Park. Conant welcomes freshman Simren Mahajan to take the helm at No. 1 singles.

Coach's comment: "We are hoping to improve throughout the year and finish in the top half of the conference come MSL Tournament time," Koleno said. "The team chemistry has been great so far. We had a fun trip our Champaign tournament last weekend, and the girls are off to a good 2-0 start."

Elk GroveCoach: Kristen Fisher

Outlook: The Grenadiers move into the 2017 season aspiring to qualify three or four teams to the state tournament. The Grens will certainly miss four-time state qualifier Jelena Vujanic, who concluded an illustrious career at Elk Grove with a top-eight finish at state. Her sister Jovana returns for her junior year after posting a great showing in 2016, delivering a 28-3 record and earning her second state tournament berth. Junior Lauren Oda and senior Ashley Szull were 18-15 as a doubles tandem last fall while earning a trip to state. Their return gives Elk Grove a solid base from which to operate.

Coach's comment: "(My expectations are to have a) growth mindset while supporting the success of our teammates," Fisher said.

FremdCoach: Lauren O'Donnell (eighth season)

Outlook: The Vikings had a season of high achievement last fall, posting a 10-2 record and finishing second in the MSL tournament. Some other highlights for Fremd included winning the Fremd and Rolling Meadows Invites, a second-place team finish in the Hersey sectional and sending Kate Bodensteiner/Julia Smiarowska and Diya Matta to the state tournament. Smiarowska/Bodensteiner (30-9), both seniors, earned a top-12 doubles finish, while Matta (23-8) completed the season in the top 32 in singles and is back for her junior year. Following that year of high accolades, the three state qualifiers plus senior Elsie Ha, Selin Parmakisiz and Kellie Ha return with high hopes for even better things to come.

Coach's comment: "Our goal is to find success in tough weekend tournaments," O'Donnell said. "We would also like to finish among the top teams in the MSL tournament and overall conference finish. For sectionals, the girls are determined to finish among the top teams and qualify as many positions as possible in the state tournament."

HerseyCoach: Sharon Meintzer (10th season)

Outlook: The Huskies enter the 2017 season with the credo, "Focus on the process, surrender the outcome." Hersey posted a 9-9 record last fall and has five returning varsity players, including seniors Claire Magnuson, Kendal Krueger, juniors Paulina Klis, Susan Ferris and sophomore Sydney Hemenway. The Huskies graduated 2013 state qualifier Ana Karapetiani. Hersey's coaching staff is in a transition period as Matt Norris (frosh/soph coach) and Sara Rodriguez (Buffalo Grove alum) join the effort and according to Meintzer have already made a significant impact on the program.

Coach's comment: "The focus now is not on winning but on learning the refinements of technique and strategy to facilitate positive results," Meintzer said. "The winning will come during the training of our athletes' mental and physical efforts.

Hoffman EstatesCoach: Kenneth Harris

Outlook: Longtime Hoffman Estates coach Greg Rouse stepped down, and Harris has taken the reins. The transition has been a smooth one as Harris has coached the school's JV team for the past 13 years. The Hawks are a generally young team as junior Prakruti Pate and senior Karly Kasmer are the only two returning players with varsity experience. The Hawks' main goal is be prepared for the conference tournament.

Coach's comment: "Our team is in the process of learning," Harris said. "I advise my team to not be afraid to make mistakes and trust in your technique."

PalatineCoach: Christy Azriel (first season)

Outlook: The Pirates lost three-time state qualifier, three-consecutive sectional title and three-time no. 1 singles MSL title holder Asuka Kawai, now playing at Illinois after a third-place finish in last season's state tourney. Kawai's sophomore sister Kanae and junior Ky Oreshkin return to Palatine; last year they were a tiebreaker away from gaining a state berth. Other Palatine players returning to the roster include senior Anja Jacobsen, sophomore Anshita Jayanth and junior Katelynn Spurck. Last season's highlights for Palatine include a 12-4 record, team wins in the Vernon Hills and Cary-Grove Invites, a fourth-place finish in the MSL tournament, third in the Hersey sectional and 10th place at the state tournament.

Coach's comment: "We had several players attend summer camp and they were able to spend a lot of time practicing groundstrokes, serves and match play," said Azriel, adding that her goal is to see her group show continued improvement throughout the season and to finish as high as possible in the conference.

ProspectCoach: Mike McColaugh (seventh season)

Outlook: Prospect looks to extend the success of last season, as the Knights posted a fifth-place showing in the MSL. Although they graduated three-time all-conference player Hannah Haeberle (playing at Carthage College) and all-conference competitor Katie Cooper (playing at Millikin), Prospect still returns eight players from the last season's varsity lineup. The familiar faces include seniors Anna Cooper (No. 1 singles player), Colleen Stanford (MSL medalist at No. 2 doubles), Cameron Kelly/Elisa Paul (MSL runners-up at No. 4 doubles), junior Ellery Whitebloom (MSL medalist at No. 2 doubles), senior Annie Walsh (MSL medalist at No. 3 doubles) and seniors Alyssa Kubitz and Rachel Steffen. Cooper, Stanford and Walsh are all three-time varsity members. McColaugh is optimistic that the Knights will continue to improve their skill level and ability to compete throughout the year.

Coach's comment: "We really think that this is one of the deepest teams we've had in a number of years, and we think that gives us opportunities to get wins up and down the lineup," McColaugh said. "We expect experience and leadership to be strengths of this year's team. I'm proud of the work that many of our girls put in during the off-season to improve their skills. They have made great strides which will hopefully give us an opportunity to compete with the top teams in the conference."

Rolling MeadowsCoach: Jim Gumz (35th season)

Outlook: After losing five seniors from last year's team, coach Gumz sees a lot of promise in this year's predominantly junior-senior lineup. Rolling Meadows posted a 6-11-1 team record in 2016, with one high point a second-place team showing at the Ottawa Invite. Seniors Maddie Grant, Sara Sheridan and Ana Soto and juniors Honor Weingart, Conor Abernethy and Kylie Differding are returning varsity players. Grant is a third-year varsity member (she was fifth at No. 3 singles in MSL last year), while the remainder of the Mustangs lineup is entering a second season at the varsity level.

Coach's comment: "We hope to overcome this inexperience with a solid early schedule, so we are playing our best tennis at the time of our conference matches and meet," Gumz said. "We expect steady improvement throughout the season."

WheelingCoach: Sandrine Chomereau

Outlook: The Wildcats enter the season having graduated seven seniors, but new coach Sandrine Chomereau has been involved with the program for nine years so she's familiar with this year's varsity group. Although the Wildcats lost a significant amount of experience, they return six varsity players including four-year senior veteran Hana Miller, three-year varsity players junior Mya Nguyen and senior Megan Murphy and two-year members junior Emily Lucas and senior Nancy Escobar.

Coach's comment: "Our goal is to have closer matches with our conference rivals," Chomereau said. "We must maintain our courteous nature, positive team spirit, improve movement of dubs teams and connect on strong serves by all team members - praise the positives."

WEST SUBURBAN GOLDLeydenCoach: Bob Smith (19th season)

Outlook: The Eagles registered an 8-4 overall 4-2 conference record last fall. Although Leyden lost six seniors, three-time conference champion and state qualifier senior Jessica Minkov returns for her final season. Senior tandem Melissa Salgado and Dana Villamena join forces for their final year (the two played No. 4 doubles in their sophomore year). Other returning players include sophomore Julia Kostadinova and senior Cora Bak.

Coach's comment: "Our goal this season is to finish in the top half of the conference and qualify players to state," Smith said.

CENTRAL SUBURBAN NORTHMaine WestCoach: Mike Murin (second season)

Outlook: Maine West looks to extend the success they found and the skill gains they made in 2016. The Warriors' returning varsity members include junior Maja Kozerski (10-10), senior Gwendolyn Hudson (10-9), junior Diane Nguyen (10-9) and Olena Andrusko. Kozerski, Andrushko and Nguyen are three-year varsity players while Hudson is in her second season at the top level. The Warriors graduated Asia Wicker and Jasmina Rekic.

Coach's comment: "We hope to compete better against all the teams we face this season," Murin said. "We were young (in 2016), and the girls have come back strong and more knowledgeable about the game."

EAST SUBURBAN CATHOLICSt. ViatorCoach: Amy Ritchie (second season)

Outlook: St. Viator was pleased to send three individuals advance to the state tournament in 2016: Patricia Dizon and Greta Zimmerman/Clara Carlson in doubles. It was the first time in nearly a decade that a St. Viator player had earned a state berth (with Andree DiVito/Laura Walsh having advanced in 2008). Dizon earned a top-16 state finish with a five-round consolation run, while Zimmerman/Carlson won a match in the backdraw. Dizon and Zimmerman return for their senior seasons along with teammates Robyn Teraji, Emma Zajac, Maggie Doherty, Kelsey Napoleon, Kyra Yeung, Maddie Merick Kathryn Williams and Tess McCloughlin. Ritchie hopes to finish in the top three positions in the ESCC, send five players to the state tournament and build experience for the younger players.

Coach's comment: "Our team is pretty young this year, with mostly juniors and a sophomore on our squad," Ritchie said. "We are a bit green in experience, but we have strong fundamentals. Our team is deep which will help us to be more competitive on lower courts. On the flipside, we have two seniors with state experience returning. I have high expectations for Dizon. She has put in a lot of off-season work, and it shows. I can see her finishing higher this year. Our conference is the toughest in the state, and it will challenge our team as well as prepare us for sectionals and state."