The Beaver Area boys tennis season is about to get underway and hopes are high.

After a strong season, but missing the playoffs by a thread last year, the team is ready to take their division by storm this year.

Matches against Central Valley and Blackhawk will be crucial, as these schools are big rivals in tennis, and the team will need to take at least one of them down to secure their hopes of reaching the WPIAL team playoffs.

Sewickley Academy would have likely proved to be the greatest challenge, a team that seldom loses games, and also went to the state semifinals last year. However, Sewickley has been moved up to the 3A class, and Ambridge has taken the spot in Section 4 (Beaver’s section).

The team will also face some teams that they didn’t play last year like South Park, who they will play at home March 21, and Quaker Valley, who they will play away April 17. These matches are out-of-section, but both teams are still in the 2A classification.

The full section that the boys will compete in include Ambridge, Beaver Area, Beaver Falls, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Ellwood City, and Riverside.

The team has only lost one senior from last year, veteran Ian McCarty-Cogis, who was the number-four seed and played first doubles.

The top singles from last year were current senior Zack Masters at first, current sophomore Aiden DeSanzo at second, and current sophomore Sean Perez at third. These top-three players will be looking to retain their spots for this year, but with more upcoming talent, there are bound to be some shake-ups on the starting seven roster.

Perez is optimistic about the upcoming season, saying “I think we will have a great season. The team’s looking very solid, and there’s a lot of room for improvement.”

The head coach for the team this year will be Greg Peluso, and practices will start in early to mid March, and the first match will be at Ellwood City March 17.