At times last season, the Alpena boys tennis team showed signs of improvement. Coming into the 2016 season, the Wildcats have an expanded roster and have their eyes set on continuing to improve throughout the season.

“We want to just keep improving. We have more kids and a few new players this year. I’m really excited to have a new group of kids out playing the game this year,” Alpena tennis coach Charlie Giordano said.

For the first time in several years, the Wildcats will have a roster of more than 10 players which made for great competition amongst the team leading up to the season. Alpena has 15 players on the roster for the 2016 season with seven returning players, two exchange students and six freshmen.

“It’s really exciting to have a full roster. I have all 12 spots plus a few extras, so that’s nice to have. It’s also nice to get a few kids more variety of playing throughout the season, because I keep telling the kids, your team is only as strong as your weakest player and everyone on the team is trying to make each other better,” Giordano said.

Cam DeCaire and Cole Lantz battled it out hard for the one and two singles spots. Both will make a solid one-two punch for the Wildcats with DeCaire seeing most of the time at one and Lantz at two. Both of the exchange students came in a bit late and will likely see time playing doubles throughout the season. With an expanded roster, many spots could change throughout the season depending on how the players progress, but for the first time in while, the Wildcats will have plenty of options on the court.

“Cam and Cole should be big for us during the season, I think either of them could play one or two any day and I’m just hoping that everyone gets better throughout the year and gain confidence on the court,” Giordano said.

Playing in the Big North Conference, Alpena will be tested all season by some of the top teams in the state. The hopes of remaining competitive throughout the season and improving is the goal for the Wildcats this year.

“We have seen a few teams in the conference already and obviously some of the teams in our conference are extremely good, but our goal this year is to go out, work hard and try to make it longer for people to beat us, keep them on the court and frustrate them a little bit,”Giordano said. “I think we’ll be a fun team to watch this year and hopefully we can compete this year and continue to build our program.”