Boys tennis 2023: Avon's top three players are back and ready to do whatever is needed to help the team reach its goals

Talent and chemistry is a winning combination. Avon found that out firsthand last year when the core of its tennis team — Logan DeHaven, Luke LeMaster and A.J. Sidoti — combined for 58 wins at the top three singles positions and was a key reason why Avon reached the district semifinals of the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association state team tournament. All three players are back this season, a big reason why Avon was ranked No. 8 in Division I and No. 1 in the Northeast district by the OTCA in the preseason. And while each of them has the talent to play first singles, they're willing to do what the team needs to help it succeed. "I've coached teams that were successful on the court, but were stressful to manage, and I've coached teams that were not successful on the court, but were a lot of fun to be with," Avon coach Eric Korey said. "It comes down to the character of the kids and the character of the families. This team is lucky to not only have the talent to win lots of matches, but we have the character to make it fun, too. Building character is a huge part of our program. We're lucky to have families and parents that embrace that as well." The only thing stopping DeHaven from rewriting Avon's record book was a lost season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, where as a freshman he would have played in the top singles position. Still, the senior has racked up 60 wins in two seasons with the program, all at first singles. He reached the state tournament for the first time last year, but it was a bittersweet trip. For the second straight season, cramps hampered him from finishing a district tournament match — this time in the semifinals, where he withdrew and then couldn't compete in his third-place match. DeHaven had two main focuses going into his senior season: Getting his diet right to keep the cramps at bay and improving his forehand, which he said he's excited to start using more this season. "We hold practice every day and everyone is there early to get ready," DeHaven said. "Everyone when they show up is there to work. That's what I like about the team. We take the sport very seriously, we take the opponent very seriously and we know how much work we have to put in to get the result we want. We have a really exciting opportunity ahead of us in the state team tournament to make it to the final four in Columbus." With DeHaven at first singles, LeMaster and Sidoti rounded into the second and third spots, respectively. LeMaster, a junior, was a district qualifier in singles his freshman season and last year won 30 games at second singles. Sidoti went 28-4 at third singles in his debut season. Now a sophomore, he worked on improving his serve, which carries a little extra velocity now that's grown 3 inches. During the postseason last year, LeMaster and Sidoti decided to compete together in doubles. While this wasn't something they planned on all season, it turned out to be a great run — they won the Elyria sectional and took third at the Springside district to reach the state tournament. "We definitely put a lot more time into doubles this year," Sidoti said. "Last year it was last-minute, but this year we started way before the season. It was an awakening, we had never played doubles before and we realized that we needed to improve our net game a lot more if we wanted to make a deeper run into state." The doubles lineups will evolve throughout the season since the Eagles have to replace Jeremy Wiersh and Tyler Heinrich, who played first doubles last year, and are already down one option because junior Kavin Manickam — who had a strong season at second doubles last year — is out for the season with an injury. Sophomore Franco Gallo went 21-4 at second doubles playing primarily with Manickam. Juniors Sivan Manickam, Jarrett Bungo and Aneesh Yerramsetti will help round out the lineup. Gallo and Yerramsetti won the second doubles title at the Lorain County Athletic Administrators Association tournament last year. And Avon could get a boost from junior Jay Kneiss, who is making his varsity debut after dealing with injuries his first two seasons. "It's a great boost," LeMaster said of Kneiss. "He gives us a lot more flexibility. We can mix up the lineups, we can put Logan at doubles if we really need to. It opens up a lot more strategy for us. He plays similar to me and A.J. because he goes to the same coach. It's inspirational, honestly, the guy takes two or three years off and is doing great. It's pretty amazing." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter.