MARYSVILLE — Every coach has reason to be excited about the start of another season, and Nathan McClellan is no different.

“I had a young team last year,” he said. “And we’ve got a number of them back. It should be a nice season.”

Marysville-Pilchuck girls tennis finished 4-9 in 2009, but hardly lost a player due to graduation. This year, the story is no different with just three seniors, but the experience is there.

The best place to see that sentiment is from junior doubles team Katie Peterson and Jessica Carey.

“They were pretty good all last year,” McClellan said. “So I’m hoping they could be a team to watch.”

The two have played a pair of years together both in tennis and volleyball, and McClellan is leaning toward not splitting them up for singles play.

“They’re pretty good friends off the court and they’re fearless,” he said. “They communicate well and just have a lot of things that make up a good team.”

The Tommies return eight players from last year’s varsity, including sophomore Raeann Bobadilla and Sasha Thomas, both of which will probably make their mark in singles.

And catching McClellan’s eye early in turnouts has been newcomer Sarah Tuemmler, who is coming over from Highland Christian.

“She looks like she’ll be pretty good,” McClellan said of the sophomore.

Stanwood and Snohomish tied for the Wesco North district championship in 2009 with a record of 13-3. Wins won’t come easy in a deep tennis year in the Western Conference, but district appearances are more likely for a singles or doubles tandem.

The Lady Tomahawks’ begin their season at 3:45 p.m., March 15 at Cavelero Middle School against Lake Stevens.