High school boys tennis season opened Monday. Here's a look at a ranking of north suburban-area teams, top players and some key early-season matches:

1. Cathedral: The Irish return a strong core from the team that finished No. 4 in the state last year in No. 1 Alex Toliver, No. 2 Will Adams, doubles player Mark Troiano, and Garrett Mandrell, who played singles and doubles. Getting out of the sectional will be tough, but Cathedral will be a state title contender again.

2. Brebeuf Jesuit: The Braves return the nucleus of last season's regional champions, led by singles players Dougie Barnard, Charlie Hurst and Brendan Bolander. Chris Plump returns from No. 1 doubles, and the No. 2 duo of Rico Lumanlan and Russell Kowlowitz also is back. Sophomore Peter Ciaccia and freshman Seth Gochnauer will push for varsity time.

3. Park Tudor: For the first time in 15 seasons as the Panthers' boys and girls coach, Dave Heffern didn't have a winning record last year at 7-7, but the starting lineup returns intact. "I don't think they were happy with last year," Heffern said. Sam Miles will be the No. 1 singles player after also seeing time at doubles. Brandon Tannebaum takes over the No. 2 position and Kishan Shah moves to No. 3.

4. North Central: The Panthers lose defending individual state champion Nick Chappell as well as senior leaders David Moss and Reid Garlock from a team that reached the semistate finals. Jami Clark is expected to take over at No. 1 singles, and Dan Delgado and Matt Johnson return with experience. Freshman Andrew Stutz is expected to contribute along with Luke Lohrstorfer, a transfer from Cathedral. Don't expect a dominant beginning from North Central, but it has the talent to be there at the end.

5. Bishop Chatard: The Trojans have gone 34-18 over the past three seasons with 16 of those losses to ranked teams, according to coach Dan McNally, and the road isn't going to get any easier with the graduation of three key players. Senior Eric Fohl and sophomore Joe Germano are the team's top returning players, and the No. 2 doubles tandem of John Germano and Michael Klineman also returns.

6. Heritage Christian: The Eagles have just nine players, but coach David Sneller is excited about the talent despite the short roster. With just one senior on the team, he will have nearly all of them for two seasons. Ryan Zochowski will return at No. 1 singles after a tough season as a freshman, with Donnie Snyder moving from doubles to No. 2 singles. Jeffrey Miley returns at No. 3 singles, with Dan Meyers and John Cecil (the lone senior) at No. 1 doubles.

7. Lawrence North: The Wildcats lost three singles players to graduation from last year's sectional champions. Nick Horn, Brian Cooper, Brendon Yu and Andrew Dunlap played doubles last season but will see time at singles this year. Freshmen Brad Yu and Christian Geiger also should be in the starting lineup.

8. Pike: The Red Devils return everyone from a 3-13 team, led by seniors Phuoc Pham (No. 2 singles) and Jay Patel (No. 3 singles). John Richert is back at No. 1 singles after gaining tournament experience this summer. Matt Randall has joined the team after previously playing soccer, and sophomore Sam Harmon also is expected to contribute.

9. Lawrence Central: The Bears lost the star power of Dalton Albertin and the doubles tandem of Kyle Speckman and Dan Dinkins, but coach Tim Taylor expects to have a balanced team with mix-and-match lineups. Brad Korn will start at No. 1 singles but also is a strong doubles player, with Nick Dailey slotted at No. 2. Tom Freije and Levi Glick will compete at No. 2, and freshman Alex Larsh is expected to make an impact.

10. International: The Gryphons compete in one of the state's toughest sectionals with Brebeuf and Park Tudor, but first-year coach Drew Schmelzer sees the potential in his young team to compete with the state powers. Matt Calderon, Michael Mayer and Kyle Kuzmic are the team's top three players and very close in skills, while seniors Corbin Wittig and Fletcher Mutz will play doubles.

11. Broad Ripple: First-year coach Jason Brandes is looking to rebuild the Rockets' program. He returns No. 1 player Steven Jamison, better known for his exploits on the basketball court, Sylvester Kenney and Ernest Burton.

Top players

1. Dougie Barnard, Brebeuf Jesuit.

2. Alex Toliver, Cathedral.

3. Sam Miles, Park Tudor.

4. Jami Clark, North Central.

5. Eric Fohl, Bishop Chatard.

Top early-season matches

Aug. 27 -- Bishop Chatard at Park Tudor: Both teams have something to prove.

Aug. 29 -- John Shirley Invitational at North Central: Annually one of the top events in the state and it will include Brebeuf, Cathedral and North Central.

Aug. 31 -- Lawrence Central at Lawrence North: Both teams are looking to reload after losing key components from last year.

Sept. 2 -- Brebeuf at Cathedral: The area's top two teams square off in a big week for the Irish, who face Park Tudor on Sept. 1.

Sept. 3 -- North Central at Carmel: The Panthers will find out where their rebuilding project stands.