The men's tennis season is short, but the outlook is for a longer schedule that extends into the national tournament.

Second-year Head Coach David Souza had a successful first year with the Cyclones as they went 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference. Their third-place finish at the NJCAA Region IV tournament qualified them for nationals last year, but he believes they can do even better this spring.

"I am very optimistic with qualifying for nationals. We do not have the largest group of tennis players like we did last year, but I feel as though the quality of players is the same," Souza said.

Returning to the lineup this year is Matthew Doyle (Tinley Park), Aidan Lysouvakon (Sandburg), Ryan O'Connor (Lincoln-Way East), who also ran on the Cyclones cross country team in the fall, and Devin Thielmann (Stagg). Incoming freshmen include Ixit Prajapati (Oak Forest) and Henry Witek (Andrew).

In addition to finishing higher at regionals, Souza wants his team to perform better in the conference or win it all. And he believes he has the talented crew to make that happen.

"I am excited to see how our team is going to do," Souza said. "This is going to be my second full season as the men's tennis coach. I feel like I learned a lot from my experience last year, and I was very happy to do as well as we did. I'm looking forward to doing even better this year."

The Cyclones' season/home opener is April 6, 2:45 p.m., against Oakton Community College.