Andrew Sinclair always has high expectations for the New Albany tennis team and last year was no different.

"It went pretty well," the coach said. "We felt going into the season that we could go undefeated. We came pretty close."

The Eagles finished 19-3 overall and went 7-0 in the Ohio Capital Conference Capital Division to win the league, right ahead of 6-1 Big Walnut and lost to Upper Arlington 3-1 in the OTCA regional final.

Last season was the fifth in a row that New Albany has had an individual or doubles team in a state final.

"You've got to have somebody who is really good and gets a lucky draw," Sinclair said.

Senior John Hendrix and graduate Riyad Bennoui made it to the final match but lost to Upper Arlington's Stu Little and Billy Weldon 6-4, 6-1.

Counting Hendrix, the Eagles return five district qualifiers and six league champs.

Senior Sean Yun was the second singles league champ while juniors Oliver Sybert and Julian Judge won the first and third singles league titles, respectively.

Senior Sam Romanoff and junior Ameen Farwana took the second doubles league crown.

The success of the squad caused teammates to knock each other out of the postseason.

Junior Jordan Rabe and graduate Ryan McNutt lost to Hendrix and Bennoui in a sectional final while Sybert beat Yun 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a singles sectional final.

Sophomores Rathnakishore Giri, Jacob Teich and Ryan McDonald and freshmen Steve Miller, Jr. and Durga Samanthula complete the lineup.

"For us to achieve at the highest level we're going to need some contributions from the freshmen and sophomores," Sinclair said.

The coach will get that from Miller, who is already challenging for the first singles spot.

"He's very talented," Sinclair said.

Bennoui, currently playing at Wright State, and McNutt will be missed for not only their on-court accomplishments but also what they brought outside of the game.

"We lost a couple of inspirational leaders," Sinclair said.

The coach knows as long as his players remain focused and play their best that the success the team wants will come.

"We've got enough talent that there's nobody we can't compete with," Sinclair said.

The Eagles won their opening match against visiting Hilliard Bradley 5-0 March 31

Every spot beat their Jaguars counterpart 6-0, 6-0, except for the second doubles team of Rabe and Samanthula, who won 6-1, 6-0.

The group swept Toledo Central Catholic Saturday, April 2, winning 5-0.

New Albany was scheduled to travel to Watkins Memorial Tuesday, April 5, and Dublin Coffman Wednesday, April 6, before hosting Olentangy Orange Tuesday, April 12.

Baseball

The team kicked off the regular season with an impressive 10-0 road win in five innings over defending D-II state champ Jonathan Alder.

The Eagles beat Upper Arlington 10-1 March 31 before splitting a doubleheader April 2 to sit at 3-1.

They beat DeSales 4-3 then dropped the next game to Parma Padua 5-2.

New Albany was scheduled to host Hilliard Bradley April 5 before visiting the Jaguars April 6.

The team travels to Watkins Memorial Friday, April 8, and hosts the Warriors Monday, April 11, while hosting Madison Comprehensive for a doubleheader in between Saturday, April 9.

"We've got enough talent that there's nobody we can't compete with."

--Andrew Sinclair