By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
The Hamilton Heights boys tennis team will be young this year, but the Huskies have two players that they can build around this season.
Heights had an excellent season last year, finishing 10-3. The Huskies’ returners are the Hochstedler brothers: Hawkins is a senior and Hudson is a sophomore. Both were varsity players last yera.
“The Husky tennis team is excited to get after it again this year and see what kind of tennis players we can become,” said Heights coach Cameron Scott. “We’re fortunate to return two quality players off of last year’s team. Both these guys had a lot of success last year.
“Hawkins Hochstedler played No. 2 singles as a junior, earning All-Conference and All-County honors and has played his best tennis this summer leading into his senior campaign. His younger brother Hudson is incredibly athletic and was a great surprise as a freshman varsity player last year. He’s worked his tail off and is poised to step up and become a leader on our team.”
Heights has two more seniors on this year’s team, Adam Gross and Zane Remsen, who played junior varsity last season. Junior JP Etchison also played several JV matches last year. Scott named those three as players who are part of “a slew of both older and younger guys looking to make an impact.”
Scott acknowledged that this year’s Huskies team will be different, with six seniors graduating from last year. But he noted that this year’s team has “a big crew of underclassmen that are chomping at the bit to play for the Huskies.
“Our team will look very different this year, but these guys are hungry and are already showing that each day they go to work,” said Scott.
The Huskies will travel to Noblesville on Thursday for a scrimmage, then open their regular season next Wednesday (Aug. 16) at Elwood.
ROSTER
Seniors: Adam Gross, Hawkins Hochstedler, Zane Remsen.
Juniors: J.P. Etchison, Michael Tolley.
Sophomores: Ethan Hall, Hudson Hochstedler, Aiden Ray.
Freshmen: Sam Dodson, Liam Huss, Jake Martin, Drew Pennington, Nicholas Rice, Josh Russell, Dax Webb.
SCHEDULE
Aug. 16: at Elwood, 5 p.m.
Aug. 17: at Pendleton Heights, 4:30 p.m.
Aug. 19: at New Castle, 9 a.m.
Aug. 23: at Eastern, 4:30 p.m.
Aug. 29: Lewis Cass, 5 p.m.
Aug. 30: at Taylor, 4:30 p.m.
Aug. 31: Northwestern, 4:30 p.m.
Sept. 5: Frankton, 4:30 p.m.
Sept. 7: at Alexandria, 4:30 p.m.
Sept. 9: Husky Invitational, 8:30 a.m.
Sept. 12, 14, 16: Hoosier Conference Tournament at Twin Lakes
Sept. 18: at Tipton, 4:30 p.m.
Sept. 19: at Lapel, 4:30 p.m.
Sept. 20: Western, 4:30 p.m.
Sept. 23: Lebanon, 9 a.m.