From left, Lauren Thames, Free State senior; Julia Harris, Lawrence High senior; and Jennifer Hughes, Seabury senior, will lead their squads in tennis this fall.

Elizabeth Simons may not know it, but she is among a rare breed of area high school girls tennis players this year.

The Lawrence High junior is one of just seven returning players with any significant varsity experience on the city’s three girls tennis teams. That’s two for Lawrence, two for Free State and three for Seabury Academy.

“It’s going to be a struggle a little bit since everyone hasn’t had that much experience playing tennis on this team,” Simons said. She was referring to LHS, but she might as well have been talking about any of the city’s teams. “I think with more practice, people will improve.”

This year, all three schools can count on new faces among the top six places in the rotation to impact their respective teams.

For LHS, that means calling on several junior-varsity players from a year ago.

“We’ll be relying on some newcomers to step in and grow up pretty fast and not be afraid of competition,” Lions coach Steve Hudson said. “But we have to rely on them to do that, and I think they can.”

Hudson indicated his top four players would be Simons, junior Jamie Jarrett, sophomore Morgan Manger and junior Jordan Payne. Only Simons and Payne return from last year’s varsity team. Two seniors – Julia Harris and Michelle Sauer – are still in the mix for the final two varsity spots, according to Hudson.

If things pan out for Hudson, he could benefit from the addition of ninth-grader Taylor Eubanks. There is a possibility she could join the Lions later in the season after fulfilling her junior high team requirements.

Hudson said Eubanks easily could slide into the No. 1 singles position. Last year, she defeated the Lions’ No. 1 singles player as an eighth-grader.

At Free State, coach John Richey is also looking at the loss of four of his top six players.

Last year’s No. 1 doubles tandem of Mackenzie Lown and Lauren Thames, both seniors now, are the only returners from that top six. The duo won their first-round match at regionals a season ago before falling to the top seed in the quarterfinals.

Richey conducted a series of challenge matches last week to determine his early-season rotation. Thames came away with the No. 1 spot, while Lown earned the second spot. Junior Ashley Stagg, who was the top varsity alternate last year, took the No. 3 slot. Sophomore Kelly Phipps came in at No. 4, Gabrielle Dillon – a senior who transferred from Seabury Academy – fell in at No. 5 and sophomore Katie Mosher earned the sixth spot.

Richey, who works as a tennis pro at First Serve Tennis Center, is in his first year coaching the girls team. He said his goal this season was to get one singles and one doubles team to the state tournament.

“I think we have the tools to do that this year,” Richey said. “Our girls get along really well. I think that’s going to help as the season goes along.”

Seabury actually has the highest number of returning varsity players – to a squad that has just one senior in Jennifer Hughes.

Joining Hughes at the top of the rotation are sophomores Sara King and Libby Sutherland, whose sister, Brooke, reached the state tournament last year for the Seahawks.

As sophomores, King and Sutherland are two of the oldest members of the team. Three ninth-graders should compete for the remaining three spots: Alex Hoopes, Amla Carr and Reese Grabill.

Seabury, in its second year with an all-girls tennis team, has expanded its schedule from five meets to nine.

Head coach Scott Elwell is counting on his three returners to elevate their games.

“They know the other teams and have seen the coaches,” Elwell said. “They have a pretty good idea of what the competition level is. They can pass that along to the other girls.”

Seabury begins its season with a home meet at 3:30 p.m. Thursday against Maranatha. Lawrence must wait until September 3 when it travels to Leavenworth High. Free State gets the first crack at game action today with a tournament at Shawnee Heights.