The Salisbury tennis team had plenty of individual success last season. This season, however, it is hoping to add some team hardware to go along with those personal feats.

Salisbury’s duo of seniors John Yurconic and Mason Groff captured state gold in the doubles circuit last year after both had lengthy runs in the District 11 Class 2A singles tournament. But the team finished just 7-9 overall and failed to qualify for both league and district team duals.

Head coach Rob Benson, however, believes this team that returns everyone from last year has the chance to win that crown in 2017.

“[It was] not a great finish,” Benson said. [We] missed playoffs, [but] individually was great. John and Mason won districts and states in doubles.”

The storyline of the Falcons’ 2016 season was highlighted and cemented with Yurconic and Groff’s run in states. The two won all four of their matches, including the 6-1, 6-3 decision over Scranton Prep’s Peter Kazmierczak and Tony Kutz at Hershey’s Racquet Club. It was the second straight medal appearance for the cousins, but the first time they left Hershey with gold.

Now, with the possibility of perhaps adding another state trip on the doubles circuit in store depending on how districts shape up, Benson and the Falcons are looking at putting the finishing touches on a team with plenty of experience.

Yurconic and Groff are obviously back at No. 1 and No. singles, respectively, as the season has already gotten underway. The Falcons swept Palisades last Friday, 5-0.

Both Yurconic and Groff won 6-0, 6-0, as did returning No. 3 player Ethan Heydt, defeating his opponent Gavin Kelly in straight sets. That trio possesses arguably the top group of singles talent in the area.

“John and Mason will be top two players in the Lehigh Valley,” Benson said. “Ethan can play good singles, and Ryan [Slutsky] and Daniel [Bonge] will be a big serving doubles duo.”

Bonge is in the midst of transitioning from swimming to tennis, where he just captured a state gold medal in the 100-yard butterfly. Once he returns, he will join Slutsky as the Falcons’ leading doubles tandem.

For now, Slutsky has been teaming up with Nick Fortunato, who returns to the court with plenty of experience from 2016.

The two defeated Palisades’ Jack Stuckey and Alex Rodriguez last week (6-2, 6-1). Brad Hnatow and Bryce Erdman served in nicely at No. 2 doubles and earned a 6-2, 6-3 decision as Benson works his full lineup back into play.

AJ Oliver, also a swimmer, returned to Salisbury after moving to Michigan for a short period of time and will be a serviceable option for Benson. The Falcons’ coach is also expecting solid play from freshman Aaron Kahn and sophomores Patrick To, Erdman and Hnatow.

“[We] need to work on overheads and court sense,” Benson said. “Our goal is to win team districts.”

Monday’s match against Southern Lehigh was postponed until April 4 and results from Tuesday’s match against Palmerton were not available at time of press.