The Parkland boys tennis program enters the 2023 season with some new faces in new places.

That doesn’t mean the Trojans won’t compete for league and district postseason championships. But it does mean it won’t be easy to replace some of the talent that has left the North Cedar Crest Boulevard school. Some of that departed talent includes Dan Zolotarev and Fyodor D’Souza.

“You’ll never see the likes of them for a while,” said Parkland boys tennis head coach Michael Hingston, entering his 11th season at the program’s helm. “Not only as tennis players but as people...That’s just tough to fill.”

The Parkland tennis program under Hingston has been consistent winners for years and this version will “have to forge their own identify,” Hingston said.

The graduation stage did not take all of the talent from last season’s 15-0 regular season team. Josh Thomas and Lucas Lee each return. Thomas has nailed down the No. 1 singles position thanks in part to his unique ability to be largely immune from pressure.

“Josh plays in the match like he plays in warmups,” the coach said. “He is relentless and becomes more aggressive during the point.”

Thomas is going to be among the top players in the East Penn Conference, according to his coach and if anybody can beat Freedom’s Noah Potts - unquestionably the league’s best player - Thomas is the young man to do it.

Lee, a doubles player on last year’s squad, is like Thomas in that he plays his best in the matches and rises to the situation.

“Lucas is a very, very consistent player,” Hingston said. “He doesn’t beat himself and his volleys have improved and he can now come to the net.”

Thomas and Lee will anchor Parkland’s hopes this season. Both young men win the ones they are supposed to, but also are able to win the 50-50 matches and have the ability to pull off an upset against top-tier talent.

Kevin Yao will be Parkland’s No. 3 singles player. Yao, a sophomore, has a weapon with his serve and hits the ball deep. He is inexperienced, however, and will work on patience and confidence during the ‘23 campaign.

The No. 1 doubles team consists of Taehyuk Yang and Rithik Raghuraman. Both have played doubles previously although at lower spots on the depth chart.

“Taehyuk has experience and the ability to develop points, while Rithik has a great serve.”

The No. 2 doubles team will consist of Noah Oxfeld and Thomas Gilchrist, with the No. 3 squad comprised of Ryan Wu and Ojas Karandikar. As the season begins the No. 4 team features Eric Jin and Matthew Ringold. Hingston said Wu, Karandikar, Jin and Ringold are mostly “locked in,” but their combinations and positions could change.

The competition in the EPC is always tough and one team stands above everyone coming into 2023.

“Freedom is the team to beat,” Hingston said. “They have talent and experience.”

Liberty, Emmaus and Nazareth should also factor into who wins the conference championship.

“We’re going to bring our racquets,” Hingston said. “We’ll be in the mix.”