McCarty, though, should inspire a great deal of confidence.

“Still looking super strong,” Curey said of McCarty’s form through the offseason. “Amazing to see how much better he’s gotten. And I’m looking forward to another great season of not only great tennis, but just his strong mental game and humility that he brings to the court.”

Outside of McCarty, the Raptors have several key returners from last year’s team.

Jamie Dahman and Cole Woodward are the only seniors on the team, while Emerson Fry, Dean Gunderson, Jonas Overton, Matt Swank and Dylan Rosenzweig are all juniors.

Fry and Overton could be in position to take over the top spot in doubles, which was occupied last year by Braeden Butler and Brody Smith — two seniors who placed second at state before graduating. Overton and Fry went 1-2 at the state tournament last season, winning only on the consolation side. Woodward was a junior varsity player last season, but everybody else has varsity experience, giving the Raptors plenty of options.

“We have such a great group of kids to choose from,” Curey said, “and something we’ve been working on is basically being able to play with anybody. No matter who you’re playing with, you’re going to make it work and try to succeed.”

Sophomore Owen Safranski was “a really good player for us last year on the JV team,” Curey said, adding that Safranski was “on the brink” of making varsity a year ago and easily did so this year.

Also new to the team is Junlong He, a junior who only picked up the sport about a year ago, Curey said, but has gotten “exponentially better” since then.

“He just spent a lot of time in the offseason improving as much as possible, which is really cool to see,” Curey added.

It’s possible the returning experienced players and promising new ones combine to lead Gallatin to another championship.

“We have a target on our backs, for sure,” Curey said, “but it’s a challenge we’re willing to take.”

On the girls side, the Raptors will hope for strong play at the top of the doubles order from junior Olivia Mansour and sophomore Alex Mansour, sisters who both have varsity experience. Olivia Mansour placed third in doubles at state last season with older sister Sophia, who graduated. Alex Mansour teamed with then-senior Averi Smith to win their opening match at state and two consolation matches before losing to Olivia and Sophia.

This year, the remaining Mansours are a likely pairing.

“I think they have a strong chance of making a deep run at state this year,” Curey said. “They’re both really great doubles players, obviously know each other well, work really well together. That’s everything you look for in doubles players: to get along, understand each other, communicate well.”

Gallatin’s girls placed third as a team at state last season.

The only other returners with substantial varsity experience are seniors Ruby McNeil and Arya Cavender. Curey expects McNeil to be valuable in singles play, while Cavender could be more of a doubles player.

“(McNeil) was primarily doubles the last couple years,” Curey said. “She’s going to have to bump up this year and take a leadership role on the team on the singles side.”

Newcomers to the team this year include sophomores Avery Childre and Sophie Stark and freshman Kennedy Varda. Curey expects Varda to impress in singles play. Seniors Bella Benzinger and Madison McCormick will help round out the roster.

“It’s going to be a good year just for learning,” Curey said. “We’re just excited to get a lot of new players some great experience at the varsity level.”

Hawks have plenty of returning experience

Across town, Bozeman’s teams return a wealth of talent on both sides.

“It’s really exciting to see a lot of our returners coming back,” head coach Joanne Sposito said. “And I think that there’s definitely a team camaraderie I see coming in on both sides, for the boys and the girls, and it’s just been so fun to watch them coming together as a team.”

On the boys team, junior Oliver Ward is back after placing third in singles at state last season. His run through the consolation bracket to finish 4-1 at the tournament provided many of the team’s points to place fourth overall.

Sophomores Harrison Rotar and Collin Gross showed strong play throughout last season. Gross qualified for state in doubles with now-graduated partner Nate Brooks. Juniors Kieran Williams and Dane Brailsford bring back varsity experience, and seniors Ben Nash and Parker Batton are not only the team’s captains but also “a formidable doubles duo,” Sposito said.

Among the team’s newcomers is freshman Caleb Brooks, Nate’s younger brother.

The team’s full lineup is not yet finalized, but Sposito is optimistic about its direction.

“We’ve got a great core group of boys,” she said, “and we’re going to build on it to round out our team.”

Bozeman’s girls placed 10th at state last year but lost only one member to graduation.

Sophomore Sara Sanford and senior Alexis LaMeres qualified for state in doubles and went 1-2 at the tournament. And junior Izabel Barr is back as well. Barr was the singles runner-up at state two seasons ago as a freshman but went 2-2 at state last year and didn’t place.

Those three state qualifiers will have plenty of teammates hoping to join them on that stage this season.

Senior Ella Fedyk and junior Elizabeth Frizzell were doubles partners last season, and so were sophomore Heidi Huber and junior Maeve O’Brien. That quartet offers more stability on the doubles side. Junior Brynn King, senior Emeline Smith and sophomore Ida Lunden add further depth. And juniors Jane West and Reagan McKinley, along with incoming freshman Poppy Christensen, provide more singles options.

“We’re going to work on defining where everybody is their strongest,” Sposito said. “A lot of the girls have been working hard on their game in the offseason, so I’m definitely excited to see how that all comes together.”

The season starts for both the Hawks and the Raptors on Saturday as both teams host Belgrade and Missoula Sentinel, with match times at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.