Brett Teolis, coach of Newtown High School’s boys’ tennis team, is hopeful that his team’s depth translates into going deep into the postseason.

A year ago, Newtown High School’s boys’ tennis team reached the South-West Conference championship match and fell to Weston. The usual suspects, including Weston and Pomperaug of Southbury, the team Newtown beat in the conference semifinals, are anticipated to be among the top squads in the South-West Conference, according to Teolis. The coach has reason to be optimistic that his squad will also be back in the mix for a conference crown thanks to the number of experienced players in the lineup.

“I think it will be a really deep team,” said Teolis, who lost only a pair of team members to graduation. “One of our goals is to first make the playoffs — and then make a deep run.”

The coach’s first objective is to be one of the four teams to qualify for the SWC tourney; the second is to win the bracket; and the third is to have some players get far in state tournament play.

Newtown is led by senior captain and top singles player Keaton McCleary, who was recruited to play at Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., along with fellow senior captain and doubles player Kunal Marwah, and junior captain and singles player Matt Carino.

The Nighthawks finally got outside for a few days of practices before Wednesday’s season opener at Weston after being limited to indoor practices because of snow-covered courts early on in preseason.

Sure, you might only need a court, racquet, and ball — and opponent, of course — to effectively prepare for competition, but Teolis notes that there is an advantage to getting some repetitions in outdoors.

“Outdoor tennis is a little harder than indoor tennis,” said the coach, pointing out that variables such as wind and sun come into play. Not to mention, court time and space is less restricted outdoors.

It’s not necessarily fair to say that all teams are in the same boat. Newtown, after all, had more snow, which took longer to melt, than some of the conference towns. Regardless, the Nighthawks are expecting to come around quickly — players compete year-round to stay sharp, Toelis notes — and have a successful campaign.

Newtown, after a rematch with Weston, and another likely tough clash in a visit to Pomperaug on Thursday, will play its first home match when Joel Barlow of Redding visits for a match on Friday, April 10. All of these competitions are scheduled to start at 3:45 pm.

Girls Aim For Playoffs

After winning back-to-back SWC titles, Newtown High’s girls’ tennis team — hit hard by graduation — missed out on the conference playoffs last spring. Coach Maureen Maher and company are optimistic about a return to the conference postseason this time around. Newtown will have to overcome the loss of a few graduates, but the Nighthawks have much more experience on their side than they did a season ago.

Led by captains Aimee Alexander and Lily Mittleman, Newtown’s roster is bolstered by the arrival of senior transfer Lindsay O’Donnell.

The roster includes senior Astrid Sundberg; returning No. 1 singles player Lauren Beier, and fellow juniors Alisha Aggarwal and Katie Reilly (a newcomer); sophomore returnees Emily McCoy and Suntan Chand, along with sophomore newcomer Rachel Goldman; and freshmen Sophie Wolfman, Caroline Viselli, Amanda Berry, and Julia Doyle.

“I have a tremendous amount of talent across the board,” Maher said. “Our goal is to be in the [SWC tournament]. We can win SWCs.”

Much like the boys, the girls expect to have the traditional conference foes to contend with. Also much like the boys, Weston and Pomperaug should be among the top squads and, Maher notes, Joel Barlow of Redding is also very tough.

After a slow start to the preseason, the girls got outside and shoveled off the high school courts to get into a routine this past week. Just as the boys have a challenging start to the regular slate, the girls stand to have their hands full early on as well.

The Hawks, after visiting Bunnell of Stratford on Wednesday at 3:45 pm, will go to Barlow on Friday, also at 3:45 pm. Their home opener is against a nonconference foe as Trumbull, from the FCIAC, comes to town for an 11 am match on Saturday, April 11.