After winning back-to-back state championships in ’24 and ’25, the La Salle boys varsity tennis team is determined to do it again, according to seniors Liam Darcy and captain River Nichols and junior Oliver Bogya. 

After a rough pre-season, playing many top 6A schools, the team has hope for the rest of the season, and has so far been undefeated in league. 

Nichols said one of the team’s strengths is its dedication to achieving this goal. 

“I feel like our top players are all very strong,” he said. “We make each other better.”

Tennis is split into two events, singles and doubles. Though he plays singles now, Darcy used to play doubles and enjoyed it, and noted both singles and doubles have their own challenges. 

“It’s kind of nice being able to rely on someone, but at the same time it’s kind of hard to trust someone that much,” he said. “[With] singles you know what you can do.”

Bogya plays doubles, typically partnered with sophomore Evan Brotherton. He enjoys playing with Brotherton because in addition to getting better, “we’re always just having fun on the courts,” he said. 

Every day after school, the team has practice. A typical practice will start with a warm up, some “short court” followed by breaking into singles and doubles and continuing with drills, according to Bogya. 

Sometimes, the team will hold challenge matches between members to determine rankings. 

This year, team chemistry has been good, according to Darcy. However, Nichols said it can be difficult to adjust each year with an ever-changing group of people and not many consistent doubles partners. 

“Every year is kind of different,” Nichols said. “For tennis, it’s always changing with partners and everything, so kind of finding a new identity was a little different.”

Outside of La Salle, Nichols and Darcy play recreationally, but it is not the same as playing for the school. 

“During La Salle, you have a goal to win, and I’m a competitive person so that goal is just really fun for me,” Nichols said. 

Echoing this, for the school, “there’s stuff on the line,” Darcy said. “You’re playing for your teammates.” 

These teammates, especially junior Zac Hanna-Barofsky and Nichols, are part of why Darcy enjoys playing tennis. He said Hanna-Barofsky demonstrates well how to keep going through adversity and Nichols is a good motivator because he is “real the whole time,” he said. 

However, according to Darcy, the whole team has individual strengths that contribute to the positive atmosphere. 

“Everyone’s really inspirational in their own way,” he said. “You can get something from everyone.”

As the sole captain, Nichols is still in charge of communicating information to the team. He also, with the help of Darcy, occasionally helps coach younger players. Darcy thinks they have done a good job as the most experienced members of the team. 

“I feel like I adjusted to my role as an upperclassman well,” he said. “People do kind of talk to me and River as those older figures.” 

Darcy said the most valuable thing he has learned while on the team has been “staying out of my own head,” he said. “It took me three and a half years to get somewhat decent at it.” 

These mental blocks are a problem for many on the team, Bogya said. At practice, it is hard to recreate the pressure of a game, so sometimes players struggle during a match. 

However, he said that tennis is forgiving in that anyone can come back from a deficit. 

“Even if you’re down love–40, where the opponent will win the next point, if you still try you have a really great chance of winning the set,” he said. “You just need to play hard after every point.” 

In addition to the forgiving nature of the sport, Bogya’s favorite part of tennis at La Salle is “just being with the community,” he said. “We have a great team.”