The Normal West boys tennis team led by head coach Drew Emerick, has a record setting 27 players on the roster this year and is hoping to accomplish big things during the 2025 season.

Emerick is known at Normal West for being a very active tennis recruiter, specifically freshmen and sophomores, who are multi-sport athletes that would have an easy time transitioning to tennis. 

“I’ve always said I always try to look for new freshmen and sophomores that are interested in playing [tennis]. I think it’s a good opportunity for kids to play a sport outside. I really kind of look after multi-sport athletes, maybe a kid that plays a fall or winter sport and doesn’t have anything to do in the spring–that way their athletics begin with and then they can pick up tennis pretty easily at normal West,” Emerick said.

“We don’t really get kids that play tennis prior to coming to high school. There’s many other schools in the conference that do have that–kids taking lessons since they were in fifth or sixth grade, so that’s kind of why I go after those kids that way we can have them in the program for a while, and so they can compete at the varsity level.

 “Tennis is a sport that you can start as a freshman or sophomore and still be able to help the varsity team. Tennis in general is just low key, it’s fun but we still take things seriously so it’s a good mix for kids to take a break from their primary sport and come learn a new sport that they can play for a lifetime,” Emerick noted.

The boys tennis team finished sixth in the Big 12 conference last season, finishing in the top half of the

conference. 

Emerick is expecting to finish even better in the conference and would be disappointed with anything less than a top 4 finish this season.

Emerick and the coaching staff has done a great job rebuilding the tennis program as the team also has a

record 27 players on the team this year, almost reaching the cutoff before having to have tryouts. 

“When I first took over the program [tennis] this will be my fourth year being the coach step number one is to get kids interested in playing, so we have 27 kids playing this year and the coaching staff was talking and we thought if we made it to 30, then that should be the cutoff to have tryouts which has never happened before. 

“We’ve never had to have a tryout and we don’t want to have tryouts but we still have to be able to run a quality practice. Step number two is to start becoming competitive. We finished 6th in the conference last year and I would be disappointed this year if we didn’t finish in the top four so that’s kind of our goal is to keep climbing the ladder and the conference standings to become a more competitive program,” Emerick stated.

The team will have five returners with varsity experience being seniors: Evan Patelli, Nolan Lampert, Michael Zaleski, and juniors Dane Schlipmann, and Tyler Cunningham.

Emerick has high expectations for his returners as he expects them to show great leadership and set an example for the younger players. 

“We always rely on the returners to set good examples for the younger kids. There’s kids that have never watched a tennis match so they don’t even want to keep score, they’re super raw and new to the sport so we need the leaders to show a good example of how we do things in practice for starters so that way we can keep the program where we want it,” Emerick mentioned.

“In terms of the guys that are returning that played varsity last year, I am expecting them to be more competitive and bring more energy to matches. We have Evan [Patelli], Dane [Schlipmann], Nolan [Lampert], and Michael [Zaleski], who all played varsity all year long last year so that’s four of our top six players that I’m expecting them to go out there and compete, especially the seniors.”

One of last year’s top seniors, Rolen Schlipmann, was just one match away from making it to state, and Emerick believes this year’s team has the ability for somebody to make it again, whether that be a singles player, or a doubles duo.

“Not only are we trying to compete in the conference, another goal of mine is to have a state qualifier. Rolen Schlipmann last year was one match away from going to state, and so I truly do think there’s a couple guys whether it’s a single guy or a double [duo] that can punch a ticket to state which would be a great thing for the program,” Emerick added.

One of the team’s varsity returners from last season, senior Evan Patelli, has high hopes for this season that he will be one of the players that can make it all the way to state.

As of now Patelli will be playing in the number one singles spot, and will team up with junior Dane Schlipmann for the number one doubles. 

“Personally, I’d like to try and make it to state. Last season, our number one guy [Rolen Schlipmann] was just a couple games away and just seeing that kind of inspired me and I’d like to make it to state,” Patelli said.

The boys tennis program  is the only team that doesn’t have any accolades listed on their plaque in the North gym.

“Obviously getting a number up there would be the first in school history which would be a huge thing for our program. That’s obviously a goal but it’s not going to be easy…never Say never. It all it all comes down to for tennis is the end of the year tournament so it doesn’t really have anything to do with dual matches throughout the season,” Emerick mentioned.

The boys tennis kicks off their season on March 17th 2025 when they host their annual intrasquad match, and will be on the road vs Lincoln High School on Thursday, March 20th 2025.