North Catholic’s Katie Hardy and Brea Kelley won silver at the PIAA Class 2A Girls Tennis Doubles Championships in 2023. They are two of the top returning players from Butler County schools heading into 2024. Submitted photo

Last October marked the end of an era for Knoch girls tennis.

Seniors Emily and Lindsey Greb won PIAA Class 2A doubles bronze, and classmate Jade Nether made the WPIAL Class 2A singles tournament. The trio led the Knights to a third WPIAL Class 2A Team Tournament championship in four years.

Now, can the new-look Knights, led by first-year head coach Lexi Chappel, begin a new era?

Or can North Catholic, under its only coach in its nine years as a program, Eric Solverson, finally climb the mountain with an intriguingly young and talented roster?

Five schools in Butler County have a girls tennis program, but several of them lost seniors from last season who competed in the WPIAL singles and doubles tournaments, leaving potentially several questions across their rosters.

The Butler Eagle reached out to multiple coaches to survey them about some of the top players to watch in Butler County this season. Here are five players you don’t want to miss in 2024:

Seneca Valley tennis' Sydney Blucher could be one of the top players on the roster this season. Submitted photo

Seneca Valley tennis' Anna Coon helped the team make the WPIAL team tournament for the first time last season. Submitted photo

SV finished fourth in its WPIAL section a year ago at 10-8 (4-3 Section II) and made the conference team tournament for the first time in program history, qualifying 14th. But there are a lot of unknowns about the roster this year under head coach Eric Grove. Four of the Raiders’ top eight a year ago have since graduated. Blucher is the top returning junior on the team and Coon is a returning senior leader. Either could be the team’s headliner this season. Aliana Brody or Cady Shea could also make big leaps this season to lead Seneca Valley.

North Catholic’s Samantha Falcon made the WPIAL sectional singles tournament last season. Submitted photo

Get used to seeing North Catholic ranked highly for the next few years. NC coach Eric Solverson believes his Knights are ready to become just the second team from Butler County to win a WPIAL team title as early as this year. They’re young, deep and talented, he believes. Falcon is a “fierce competitor” who plays a base-line game, won a WPIAL singles sectional tournament match as a freshman and should be a top singles player all season.

North Catholic’s Katie Hardy combined with Brea Kelley to win WPIAL bronze and PIAA silver in doubles play last season. Submitted photo

Hardy returns for one last campaign as perhaps the most experienced player from Butler County. The team captain made the WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinals last season, losing to Winchester Thurston’s Cecilia Gurgel. Her biggest success came paired with Brea Kelley, where the duo won bronze over Montour’s Peja Cruise and Raven Karlik in the WPIAL championships and then made a surprise run to the PIAA Class 2A Girls Doubles Tennis Championships final, losing to a pair from Lower Moreland.

North Catholic’s Brea Kelley combined with Katie Hardy to win WPIAL bronze and PIAA silver in doubles play last season. Submitted photo

Solverson loves his young roster. Part of the core he believes can finally win a WPIAL team title is Kelley, who broke out as just a freshman in the WPIAL doubles tournament alongside Hardy, and then claimed silver in an impressive run through the state tournament. She’s “not overpowering, but she can hit very accurately,” Solverson said, but she’s becoming a complete player. Can Kelley develop further as a singles player and establish herself over the next few year s as one of the best in Butler County?