When: Thursday through Saturday

Where: Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, with matches on the first two days through the Mid-Suburban League and on Saturday at Hersey.

Local flavor

CLASS 2A

Singles

Vera Iyer (Conant, 18-5): Cougars sophomore makes it two state tourneys in a row after finishing second at the Schaumburg sectional to 5-8 seed Danilo Kovacevic of Maine South, one week after falling in three sets to Bradley Yu of Barrington in the MSL final. First-round opponent: Jacob Edelchik (Highland Park).

Andrew Milas (Conant, 17-10): The Cougars freshman makes his first appearance thanks in part to an upset win over former state qualifier and four-year veteran Markos Christoforou of Elk Grove in a state qualifying match last Friday at the Schaumburg sectional. First-round opponent: 5-8 seed, Mark Wu (Glenbrook North).

Bradley Yu (Barrington, 20-6): The Broncos’ top man becomes the second straight freshman in the program to advance after Dylan Er last spring. Yu captured an MSL title two weeks ago to help his club win its fifth consecutive conference championship. One victory away from facing No. 2 Jack Randall of Lockport. First-round opponent: Nick Karcynski (Andrew).

Doubles

Conant (Nico Rosas/Kannan Motwanit, 17-1): It’s a third straight state appearance for Rosas, a junior who, along with his teammate Motwanit (playing in state for the first time) won a sectional title to help the Cougars earn a third straight sectional crown. First-round opponent: Homewood-Flossmoor (Will Knox/Perry Hoag).

Conant (Michael Kim/Arjun Rao, 20-10): Kim stepped in for his teammate Motwani at the MSL tournament while Kim was away, and the two came away with a second-place trophy. One week later, Rao advanced for the second time, Kim his first. First-round opponent: Lincoln-Way Central (Joey Isdonas/Brandon Langer)

Schaumburg (Kevin Eberhardt-Max Brito, 22-8): When former Saxons head coach Jason Campbell paired his Nos. 1 and 2 singles guys just before the postseason began, it produced a magical run into the 2016 state tournament. This year, new coach Jon Schaefer didn’t mess with success, keeping his best players together to produce another state appearance. The Illinois-bound Eberhardt was named to the Daily Herald All-Academic Team just a few days ago. First-round opponent: Evanston (Alec Avery/Max Newman).

Class 1A

Singles

Kyle Borst (Sr, St. Viator, 14-14): The Lions senior saved his best for last by earning the first trip to the tournament of his four-year career after holding down the top spot for coach Amy Ritchie these past two seasons. Came back from being down to capture third-place at sectionals to help seal the Lions’ best sectional team finish in ten years. First-round opponent: Kevin Zhang (Glenwood).

Doubles

St. Viator (Nick Gattuso/Jack Aiello, 18-10): The Lions’ No. 2 team rose up to make a statement last weekend at sectionals, giving the club a second state-qualifying team after going nearly 10 years without a one. First-round opponent: Oak Forest (Jordan Ahlgrim/Carter Hamrin).

Big picture

This is the first season of two-class play after the IHSA introduced its new look last fall during the girls tennis campaign. This is also the first time in recent memory when the depth of quality is not quite as high as usual, thanks in part to heavy graduation losses to traditional state powers in the last two seasons.

With a field of 64 instead of the long-standing 128, there will be one less round of play, and 2 less points available with a victory, meaning the race for the team trophy will be hard-fought.

In 2A, Glenbrook North, Highland Park, Hinsdale Central, Naperville Central, New Trier and Stevenson will look for first-day rewards from all of their players to help keep them at the top of the standings and advance to second-day action, when the points swings accelerate.

Here’s a brief look at the two classes.

Class 2A

Top (4) seeds — Singles: Jacob Edelchik (Highland Park, 22-1), Jack Randall (Lockport, 29-0), Nick Marino (Glenbrook North), Ryan Rogener (Naperville Central, 28-2). Doubles: Edwardsville (Alex Gray/Zach Trimpe, 28-0), Highland Park, Glenbrook South (Sebastien DesRoberts-Rohan Gupta, 17-2), Highland Park (Brandon Lew-Jeremy Learner, 11-2), Hinsdale Central (Trevor Hamilton-Andrew Buhelos, 10-4

Lowdown: Only imperious domination from one of the top four at both singles and doubles will separate one of the closest fields in recent memory, although the slight nod goes to the top seeds Edelchik and Edwardsville.

Edelchik, who will play at LeHigh next fall, is just ahead of the class with his steady play and ability to use the entire court, waiting for his opponent to make a mistake.

Although an unknown to some, Randall of Lockport is just behind Edelchik in USTA rankings, while Marino, after his remarkable senior season, and Roegner, who was ready to face Edelchik in the finals of the Pitchford, are right there with their rivals.

In doubles, the No. 1 seed (Edwardsville) led the Tigers to a 17th consecutive sectional title last weekend and placed fourth at state last year.

After blasting Hinsdale Central in the final of the Jay Kramer Invite, and the rest of the field at the prestigious Deerfield 8-team Invite, a star was born at Highland Park with the team of Lew-Learner.

Central was set to play Edwardsville in the Pitchford final until rain washed away that highly anticipated contest.

The first day of play will help set up what appears to be a hard-fought battle for the team trophy. But with a smaller field, the backdraw and its valuable points might just settle the entire affair.

Those with a full complement here have the initial advantage, which again could make a big differene in backdraw points.

Class 1A

Top (4) seeds — Singles: Victor Spolidoro (Dunlap, 38-0), Nic Meister (Latin, 24-2), Anderson Park (Belvidere North, 30-2), Nathan Spear (Chicago Northside, 14-2). Doubles: Chicago University High (Sam Fleming/Arjun Asokumar, 13-0), Normal U-High (Josh Friese/Carter Burk, 24-6), Dunlap (Steven Chacko/David Wu, 20-5), Metamora (Fletcher Koehrsen/Carston Boest, 20-6).

Lowdown: The respected long-time coach of Metamora, Kelly Willard, has seen just about every top 1A team this spring. He believes the race to the finish will be between Dunlap, Latin, Chicago University High, Normal U-High and ESCC champ Benet.

“Only Dunlap advanced all four of its entries, but the others have players who will be seeded and give them big points, with the hope their remaining guys can score a few points here and there to make a difference,” says Willard.

Top seed Spolidoro was a 5-8 seed a year ago, losing to eventual state champion, Vic Budic of Deerfield in the fourth round before being eliminated for good by this year’s No. 1 2A seed Edelchik.

Meister is a three-time sectional champ, Park a four-time state qualifier, and Spear went 4-2 here last season.

You can follow the entire three-day tournament online by going to the IHSA tennis page, which will have current results and standings as they are updated.

— Mike Garofola