A golden opportunity lies ahead for Hoover’s boys tennis team this season.

The team has 17 players this year, and many are optimistic about the season.

“I think we’ll do better this semester,” said Alec Avedesian.

The team has grown significantly over recent years under Mher Ivynian’s leadership. Just this year, five new players joined the team while only two players left the team.

“I feel like our team is very strong this year,” said Christopher Kim. “We have a lot of competitive players.”

Team captain Vincent Abechian said his team is prepared for the season.

“I’m feeling very optimistic about the upcoming season,” he said. “We stand a real chance of going far this season.”

The team practiced twice a week as the first semester ended, to get used to the intense conditioning that the team goes through.

Now a few weeks into the second semester, the team has been practicing every day to get ready for the season.

Ivynian will coach the team this year, having come to Hoover in 2022.

“We have good energy with the group and there’s a high potential to do really well this year,” said Ivynian. “So I’m really looking forward to this season. We have new freshmen coming in this year and they’re experienced, which I like to see.”

Just over a year ago, he won the Coach of the Year award by the Pacific League after leading the girls’ tennis team to playoffs during the fall season.

The boys’ tennis team on the other hand, has not made it into CIF for at least a few years.

“I hope we make it further into the playoffs,” said Avedesian.

Ivynian has been making progress in getting the school to put more resources into the tennis courts, attaining a new net and better lighting, though it still has a long way to go.

“Everyone’s excited about coming back to the team,” Ivynian said.