Freshmen expected to boost Franklin Regional tennis

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, March 12, 2018 | 11:00 PM

With eight letterwinners returning to a team that finished 6-2 in the section and qualified for the WPIAL postseason last year, Franklin Regional boys tennis appeared to be strong once again. With a pair of impact freshmen factored into the equation, though, the Panthers could be a contender for the section crown.

Franklin Regional coach Howard Fisher, in his 39th year guiding the program, explained his team should improve on last year's third-place finish.

“I do feel the team is better this year than what we had last year,” he said.

The most notable returning player is senior Sean Vannatta, who played No. 1 singles last year. Vannatta had six wins but failed to qualify for the WPIAL singles tournament after losing in the section quarterfinals.

The other co-captain, Joey McGinn, won 10 matches in section and exhibition play. He likely will remain in doubles action his senior year.

While those seniors will be leaned on, it is a strong crop of ninth-graders that has caught Fisher's eye. Of the six freshmen in the program, two or possibly three could crack the varsity team this year.

Anup Nadesan and Shrey Ramesh, whose older brother Rochan was a standout for the Panthers a few years ago, have the potential to earn spots in the lineup.

“It's very encouraging this year to have freshmen come into our lineup, which will obviously help us for the next four seasons,” Fisher said.

Senior Everest Yan, who typically competed in the No. 3 singles role last year, is expected to shift to doubles play.

“It looks like my singles lineup is going to be very solid,” Fisher said. “It's going to be a matter of getting doubles teams together that have not played a lot together and seeing if we can come up with good chemistry.”

Sean is a freelance writer.

Tags: Franklin Regional