If the array of returning lettermen on the roster is any indicator, this should be a pretty good season for the Englewood High School boys tennis team.

“We should have a pretty good team,” Pirates coach Jim Tucker said. “While we are better than we were last season, we still are in a very tough league. So, while I doubt we’ll challenge for the league title, I definitely feel we should be competitive in most of our matches.”

Mother Nature stepped in with rain so the Aug. 25 season opener with Denver South was postponed. So, the Pirates were to start off the season with league competition as they were scheduled to travel to Golden for a match Aug. 27.

The team returns home Sept. 1 for a match against Conifer and heads to Skyview for a non-league match Sept. 2.

Englewood plays its home matches on the tennis court at the northeast corner of the high school. Most matches start at 3:30 p.m., they are open to the public and there is no charge for admission.

As the Pirates prepared to start the season, Tucker said he is fortunate to have lettermen lined up at the three singles positions. The plan is for Dominique Nguyen, a four-year Pirate tennis player, to return at No.1 singles, senior letterman Chris Nelson to play No. 2 singles and 2-year junior letterman Amor Erdeneliolg to start the season at No. 3 singles.

All but one of the four doubles teams are made up of returning veterans. The prospect is the Pirates will have senior lettermen Justin Anderson and Justin Schroeder teamed up at No. 1 doubles, while sophomores Henry Andrykowski and Eddie Mendez are slated to play No. 2 doubles. That means sophomores Devin Greer and Seth Bludnick will line up at No. 3 doubles and with sophomore Chris Davis and freshman Julian Pettersen teamed up at No. 4 doubles.

Andrykowski, Mendez, Greer, Bludnick and Davis all played tennis for the Pirates last season as sophomores. All saw some JV matches and some did get to play in varsity competition.

As the team’s No. 1 singles player, Nguyen said he spent all summer working on improving his game and getting ready for the upcoming season.

“I played a lot of tennis this summer. I would play singles if I could with family members or, if I was alone, I’d work on my serve,” the Pirate senior said. “I have improved quite a bit but there is still room for improvement in my game.”

He said the strength of his game is his backhand. He added that his serve is strong and getting stronger but he is still working to make sure the first serve is in play.

He said he likes to play a ground game, working the baseline, making the return and letting the opponent make the mistakes.

“I want to win more matches this season,” Nguyen said. “However, my goal is to make the semifinals at regionals so I will at least have a shot at going to state.”

Despite the talent and experience, Tucker said the Pirates face a tough battle in a league where the regular lineup of title contenders that includes D’Evelyn, Wheat Ridge and Golden will be strong again this season.

Record in league play establishes seeding for the all-important regional tournament, the competition to determine the state qualifiers. Unfortunately for the Pirates, all three of the top teams in the league are in the same regional as Englewood.

“We have some good kids and should have do pretty well in dual matches this season,” he said. “All the players go to regionals to try to earn a berth at state. That’ll be tough because our region includes some of the best 4A tennis teams in the state. A lot of our kids who will sit home are good enough to earn a berth at state in a lot of other districts.”