The spring sports season for Chaska High School is underway.

The Hawks tennis team lost six players to graduation from last year’s team. The 2026 squad is young and determined and will challenge many teams in the conference.

First up this season was the crosstown foe Southwest Christian (SWC) Stars on April 8 in a non-conference match. SWC is well known for its highly competitive tennis teams. The Stars brought that competitiveness to the meet and defeated the Hawks 6–1 on a cool, brisk afternoon.

Chaska junior Connor Fouks, playing in the number two singles position, defeated SWC’s Brody Uglum 6–4, 6–2 to earn the Hawks’ lone win.

Mitchell Tan (Sr.), at number one singles, was defeated by David Wurst (Sr.) 6–2, 6–0. At number one doubles, Will Podhradsky (Sr.) and Bentley Carlson (So.) fell 6–0, 6–2 to Isaac Wilson (Sr.) and Wade Ganske (Sr.) of SWC. At number two doubles, Harvey Perkins (So.) and Taylor Meserth (Jr.) were defeated by Drew Denton (Sr.) and Cade Thomas (So.) of the Stars.

While the outcome was not in favor of the Hawks, Head Coach Zach Williams (fresh off his role as an assistant coach for the state champion boy’s basketball team) was pleased with the team’s growth and effort.

“Southwest has strong players,” he said. “This year they are a bit more experienced than we are, but our guys came out with a great effort for their first match. We’re a young team and may not win every match, but I’ve stressed that we want to play our best and have each player improve from one match to the next.”

This is Coach Williams’ 16th year coaching boy’s tennis at Chaska, and he anticipates the Hawks will challenge conference foes in every match.

The Hawks’ next home meet will be Tuesday, April 21, at 4:15 p.m. at the high school courts against Chanhassen.