By HockomockSports.com Staff

2025 Hockomock League Boys Tennis Preview

For years, Sharon has had firm control of the hardcourts across the Hockomock League. The boys won a piece of every Hockomock League title from 1980 to 2010 when the league split, and have won all but one Davenport title (2018) since then.

With the latest realignment in the league, the Davenport division got a little reprieve this spring. And the Kelley-Rex – which has been won by five different boys programs since the split – just got a whole lot more challenging.

There’s some good parity in the Davenport division. The Eagles are the favorites to take the Kelley-Rex crown though it won’t be without a fight.

Mansfield is in a good spot to claim its first division title in over a decade. Senior Neema Khosravani is a returning league all star and will be one of the top singles players in the league. Junior Dev Godara has a good amount of varsity experience and will compete in singles action while freshman Muhilan Karuppussamy has impressed already in his rookie season. The Hornets have the doubles team of Justin Curtis and Kingston Carey back after playing together for most of last year.

The Hornets will face good competition. Oliver Ames doesn’t have the largest roster in the league but it’s one of the most experienced ones. The Tigers return six of its seven starters from last year, including one of the top doubles teams in the league in senior Nick Wagner and junior Brendan Teehan. That duo posted an impressive 11-4 record last year and will be one of the teams to be both in the Davenport and league-wide. Senior co-captains Patrick Dolan and Alex Efremidis are veteran leaders that give OA a solid singles lineup while sophomore Maxim Westerbeke will take the leap to first singles. Seniors Jack Andromalos, Frankie Chen, and Xinyu Long will fill out the lineup card for an Oliver Ames squad eager to win its first-ever league crown.

Canton is in a similar situation as Oliver Ames as the Bulldogs also bring a lot of familiar faces back in search of the program’s first division title. The squad boasts a talented and deep group of singles players in juniors Bharat Ramanathan, Matt Wright, and Eli Weaver all have varsity experience and are a competitive group that sets the tone for the rest of the squad. Senior co-captains Justin Ngan and Tyler Benson will anchor Canton’s doubles action and there’s a good mix of newcomers that can slot into the lineup.

“Generally I really like this group,” said Canton head coach Bill Donovan. “We were very young last year and we took our lumps. But all of our key guys gained a lot of experience and they’re excited to get started with this season.”

Junior Alvis Huang and sophomore Spencer Reich also have varsity experience for Canton and will compete for time in the lineup. Freshman Luke Erickson has impressed early on and made it into the Bulldogs’ starting lineup at first doubles. Juniors Aiden McCloskey, Wyatt Proctor, and Mahn Vu, along with sophomores Ryan Moltenbrey, Jacob Richmond, Shawn Manzi, and Stathi Gregoriadis are all returning members of the squad while freshmen Maxmillian Mueller, Jasper Mahoney, and Frankie Kowalski will look to make a splash in their first season.

Foxboro and North Attleboro will also look to challenge for the Davenport title. Both squads saw a good amount of turnover but have some key pieces to build on this year. The Warriors return their top two singles players from last year and that will give them a big boost against a tough schedule. Seniors Raj Jetty and Luca Meyer have plenty at the varsity level for a couple of seasons and will be among the top 1-2 punches in the league. Senior Evan Paluzzi, who was a top doubles player for Foxboro last year, will look to give the Warriors a boost later this season when he returns from injury. The Rocketeers have a lot of new faces too after graduating nine seniors from last year’s squad. Captains Darren Liang and Jeremy Carter are back after playing in singles action for North Attleboro this spring while freshman Aaryav Relan has been impressive so far and earned a start (and win) at first singles to start the season.

Sharon will look to claim its first Kelley-Rex title in its first season competing in the league and make it six straight division titles. The Eagles entered the season on a 58 league match win streak. Sophomore Milan Kilijov impressed at third singles last year and will now move up the ladder, starting at first singles for the Eagles in a season-opening win over Stoughton. Senior Jacob Slavsky has been a stalwart in the lineup for many seasons and is back in the mix as one of the top singles players in the Hock and the lineup received a big boost with freshman Sri Piratla competing for a top singles spot. Sharon’s success wasn’t limited to singles action; the Eagles boasted one of the best doubles teams around in Sava Kassev and Isaac Chen – the senior/junior duo will certainly be tough to be this year. Senior Joel Zwicker is another key piece back in the lineup with singles and doubles experience.

Attleboro is coming off back-to-back division titles but had a lot of turnover after last year. Sophomore Jackson Fazzina is the lone returner from the lineup last year after playing mostly third singles last year; he will spearhead the Bombardiers this season. Newcomers Daniel Morin and Connor Houle are in the mix for singles action as well.

Franklin is another squad that had a good amount of turnover. The Panthers won the division in 2021 and 2022 and took second in each of the last two years. With a strong senior class, the team will be looking to compete for the top spot this spring. Senior captains Danny Reis, Aaron Ramaswamy, and Gabe Terry will lead the way for the Panthers this year with Reis and Ramaswamy competing for time at first and second singles while Terry will compete with fellow returner Jai Kandula as well as Vikram Chakrabhavi for third singles. That also gives head coach Mike Bennett strong options for doubles. Senior Jack Sebell is also in the mix for doubles action.

A pair of freshmen have impressed in the preseason and could become fixtures in the lineup. Freshman Deklan Morin broke into the lineup in the season opener at third singles and classmate Anish Bokil earned a spot alongside Chakrabhavi at second doubles.

“We have a good mix of veteran and new players on our roster this year,” Bennett said. “Danny Reis, Aaron Ramaswamy, and Gabe Terry look to lead us to the same success we had last year in hopes of making a deeper playoff run than we did last year. Anish and Deklan are two players that I see flying up the ladder this year.”

Another potential challenger calls Wrentham home. King Philip has a very strong singles lineup full of veteran players. Junior Luke Bailor is back for another season at first singles while classmate Brent Schneider is another returner who saw a lot of time at second singles. Senior Arjun Kollu also played against some of the top competition in the league in singles action.

“Our singles ladder of Bailer, Kollu, and Schneider is extremely competitive, as all three played club tennis this summer, have tournament experience and our challenge matches this spring have been close, one resulting in tiebreakers,” said first-year KP head coach Bauer Evans. “Our doubles pairings show a high ceiling and potential with aggressive net play and strong first serve percentages.”

Sophomore Jaydon Ajoy mainly played doubles last year but will compete for a spot in singles too. Senior Ashrith Epuri and junior Logan Reilly form a strong team that will look to compete against the top doubles teams in the Hock, and sophomores Khaldoun Tahan and Brendan Lawler will look to help the Warriors compete by getting some wins at second doubles.

Milford could be a dark horse in the division with the majority of its lineup back. With its top three singles players back and the core of the squad returning this spring, the Hawks will look to make a push for a spot in the postseason.

Senior and four-year players Connor Wong and Corey Rattray have had great competition this preseason competing for the top spot in the lineup. Rattray has a lot of experience at first singles but with Wong starting the season at the top spot, his experience and skill will give Milford a very strong option at second singles. There’s even more competition at third singles with seniors Sean Previlege and Todd Ostertog battling for the final singles spot in the lineup. To start the season, Previlege will get the nod at third singles and Ostertog will team with junior Drew Cahill.

“I believe we will be competitive again this year,” said Milford head coach Shawn Austin. “As far as individual matches were concerned, last year was the best for this team and Corey notched the first .500 record at the first singles spot for this team in the last nine years at least. Now that Connor seems to be right there with him, I expect even better results here, and we will lean heavily on our singles since doubles is still a bit of a question mark.”

Seniors Luke Fabry and Lokesh Addagiri give the Hawks some more experience in doubles action. Senior Marsh Sargius along with juniors Harsh Mannava and Avi Mahanta have played on the team for a number of years and provide solid depth. Freshmen Daniel Majkut and Anjan Lakkadi have shown good progress so far this season and will be key pieces for the future.