ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Hub tennis team returned to action this past Monday for its first official practice of the 2025 season, which will be the program’s first as a co-op with Oregon High School. Among the Oregon players set to take the court this season are freshman David Eckardt, son of head coach Kristy Eckardt. Four Oregon players are on the roster this season.

The Rochelle Hub tennis team is aiming to improve on a 6-11 overall record and a 1-4 record in the Interstate 8 Conference last season. Among the leading returners for the Hubs, who will open their season at the Rock Island Invitational on Saturday, March 29, are core juniors such as Mark Green, who enters his third varsity season this spring. Rochelle will begin Interstate 8 Conference play with a home match against the Sycamore Spartans on Tuesday, April 8.

“I think we have really good kids and some of them have even taken lessons over the winter,” Eckardt said. “They’re really eager to get back on the court and they’re ready to go. Mark’s been a varsity player every year he’s been with the team and he’ll be a big part of our equation.”

Juniors Philip Winters and Caleb Mortensen are two more returning varsity starters for the Hubs, who will host their annual Hubs Dubs Tournament on Saturday, April 12 as well as the Rochelle Hub Invitational on Saturday, May 3. Sophomores Noah McKinney, Samuel Sergeant and Connor Hunley are three underclassmen to watch as the Hubs take the court this spring.

“Philip will be a big part of our equation,” Eckardt said. “Connor hadn’t played tennis before last season, but he improved every day and he’ll be in the mix here. Sam, Noah and Caleb are all back and that’s good news for us. I thought the kids improved a lot last year in terms of their hustle and how they battled. We face a lot of really good tennis players who’ve played tennis their whole lives, but our kids have a willingness to go out there and battle for every point.”

Rochelle will play a total of five conference matches before hosting the Interstate 8 tournament on May 17. Among the nonconference opponents on the schedule are Streator, Belvidere North, Dixon, Freeport, Princeton, DeKalb, Sterling, Harlem, Mendota and Newman Central Catholic. Conference matches will feature a new format, as both teams will play singles and doubles. Matches will include three varsity doubles matches as well as six varsity singles matches.

“The kids are trying to get better and they always want to learn,” Eckardt said. “I think we’ll surprise some people with how much better we are. We want to finish higher in the conference and I think we were a little disappointed with where we wound up at the conference tournament last year. We want to get some good team wins and have some good tournament showings.”