On one hand, the Douglas High girls' tennis team returns the defending regional champion in singles.
On the other, the Tigers lost all but one other starting spot to graduation.
"We graduated eight players with multiple seasons of varsity experience," second-year Douglas coach Roger Rusmisel said. "We lost 21 years of experience, so it is definitely a rebuilding year."
Add to it that many of the playoff teams around the north have kept their top guns.
"You look at it and all the top players around the north last year were freshmen and sophomores," Rusmisel said. "Everyone is back and they have all gotten better. I think there are about eight players with a legitimate shot at winning the zone
championship. Whoever puts it together the best will win it. They'll have to earn it because it will be a tough, tough tournament."
In that mix will be sophomore Amelia Ritger who enjoyed a remarkable freshman campaign with a 32-0 record on Northern Nevada soil. Her sole loss last year came in the first round of the state tournament in Las Vegas.
"Amelia is looking good," Rusmisel said. "She has added some more dimensions to her game, worked on her power a little bit, and improved what she was already good at " which was her consistency and her ability to diffuse her opponent's power shots."
Junior Cesarina Ceglia will slide into the No. 2 singles slot after posting a 14-11 record in the No. 3 spot last season.
"If she plays to what she is capable of, she could be looking at clinching a seed for the regional tournament," Rusmisel said.
Outside of that, last year's No. 4 doubles team of Linsey Glass and Marissa Delgadillo, which posted a 6-6 record while pushing the No. 3 tandem, will represent the only other significant experience the Tigers have coming back while senior Sophie Lyles (3-2), junior Catelyn Kegg, and senior Kat Merrill saw limited playing time last season in the singles bracket.
The rest of the roster is either new to the sport or new to high school.
"There are a lot of new faces," Rusmisel said. "It's nice to have some younger players, and we've got a couple of outstanding athletes transplanted from other sports."
"(Senior) Niki Hamzik is looking like she could handle the No. 3 singles spot or she may play doubles," Rusmisel said.
Senior Clara Ritger and junior Jamie Lundergreen makes their tennis debuts this fall after stints in junior varsity soccer and volleyball respectively last year.
"Clara will be in the mix in our top eight," Rusmisel said. "We get Jamie from volleyball. They'll be solid players."
He also noted freshman Sarah Weaver for her progress in the first few weeks.
"She has a lot of natural athletic ability," Rusmisel said.
For the first few weeks of the season, the Tigers will just be looking for some sort of solid lineup.
"We'll be shuffling people around a lot just trying to find our strongest lineup," Rusmisel said. "We're still working on some basics and even going over scoring, things like that.
"We'll be playing some sets in practice and just seeing how it goes. Our goal is to make zone as a team."
