SASEBO, Japan – One thing DODEA-Japan high school tennis has going for it this season – it’s flush in returning Far East tournament champions.

Sophomore Ryunosuke Roesch of Yokota won the boys singles title last October in the Far East tournament on Okinawa. Meanwhile, senior twin sisters Moa and Miu Best of Division II team champion E.J. King finished 1-2 in singles and paired to capture the doubles title.

They’re all back, vying for more. But not looking too far ahead, if you ask the Cobras sisters about it.

“I just want to do the best I can and see where my best takes me,” said Moa Best, who beat her sister 6-1, 6-4 in the girls singles final.

“I want to give it my all, since this is my last year,” said Miu Best, who teamed with her sister to beat Matthew C. Perry’s Nina Altig and Julie Apperson 6-1, 6-3 in the Far East doubles. “I’m going to work my hardest to try to win.”

The twins have worked hard all summer to get ready for their swan-song season, spending time at a USTA camp in Orlando, Fla., to “make them better players,” said McKinzy Best, the sisters’ coach and father.

Roesch didn’t put down his racket, either, said Panthers longtime coach Tommy Palmer. Roesch kept up his tennis training and is joined this season by his freshman brother Kotaro.

“He’s a seasoned, solid player,” Palmer said of Kotaro Roesch. “They can play tennis. They haven’t suffered over the summer.”

Both the Cobras and Panthers aren’t just relying on their champions.

King returns seniors Neo Purificacion, Laura Dougherty, David Armstrong and junior Scott Humbrecht, and welcomes Gabrielle Velasco, a junior, from Zama.

Senior Jai Bailey also returns for Yokota as does the entire girls lineup, senior Jessica Franks, junior Vitalia Duran and sophomores Gabvriella Duran and Giselle Pinard.

As for the Samurai, most of their starting lineup graduated or transferred, so longtime coach Mark Lange spent time recruiting from other sports.

Baseball players Joseph Steenhoven (senior), junior Aira Fujinum and sophmores Dylan DeGuzman and Taisei Shimakura dot the lineup along with soccer players Sasha Malone, a senior, and junior Ren Spinosi. Apperson’s sister Miah, a freshman, is also on the team.

“Disguised as a tennis team,” Lange said. “Nothing new. It’s just another year and I’m a pretty good recruiter.”

For Zama, Kai Fredendall is set to start his fourth season, while fellow senior Carson Durst comes over from football. And coach Oscar Baldemor has three sets of siblings, including junior Sean and sophomore Gabe Simpkins.

Robert D. Edgren welcomes Hoa Nguyen as its new head coach; he formerly coached Kadena back in the 2000s. The Eagles have 40 players on the courts, but only two returners, seniors Kaitlyn Pasion and Charles Alvey. The rest are relatively new to the game.

Transfers will boost Nile C. Kinnick’s boys tennis team: Tavi Shah, a sophomore, was half of the DODEA-Europe boys doubles runner-up team for Naples. Jamesson De Borja, a junior, moves in from Western Branch High in Virginia.

Sophomore twins Aaden and Noah Otteson return for the Red Devils. Only one girl is back, senior Catherine Kerns.

Volleyball

After a strong second half of the 2023 season, including a Far East D-II tournament title, Yokota is rebuilding, with just two starters back: senior Erica Haas and sophomore Cocoro Jones.

“You just have to do the best you can,” coach Veronica Pascoe said. “What else can you do? How you start is not how you finish.”

The team the Panthers beat in four sets in last year’s D-II final, King, must make do without four-year starter Maliwan Schinker, but is still flush in returners and experience.

Seniors Pia Lagrito, Sarah Goleman and Kaylee Mapa return along with junior middle blocker Mila Nishimura-Reed. Julia Hunt, a junior, is in line to become the new setter.

“We have some people who have been in the system and played” for a couple of years, coach Ricky Andrew said.

The Trojans bade farewell to four-year starter Kierstyn Aumua, but do return three senior starters from last season, Juliet Bitor, Emma Sakamoto-Flack and Isabella Rivera Munoz. Sophomore Kira Herring is showing promise, coach Veronica Jones said, along with a handful of other underclassmen.

Kinnick has versatile athletes in its lineup. Seniors Leona Turner and Michele Holloway, returning at outside hitter, also play basketball and run track and field for the Red Devils.

Another track athlete, senior Jasmine Williams, lines up at right-side hitter. Giovanna Kennedy, a senior soccer player, is trying volleyball for the first time.

One team clearly in rebuild phase is Perry, which out of 20 players on last year’s roster returns only three; there are 12 underclassmen on this year’s roster. Senior Ella Mhay Dizon and junior Nevaeh Martinez return, while sophomore Brooklyn Hunter transfers in from St. Louis.

Edgren welcomes Olivia Erickson as its new coach and only has one returning starter, senior Amber Baltazar. Juniors Keira Marrero and Kaleiana Alonzo will likely split setting duties. Freshman Emily Castano will play outside hitter.

Cross country

Two years after bidding farewell to one of the best girls runners in school history, Edgren coach Tim Schwehr feels the Eagles have found their next one.

“Another Morgan Erler,” he said of freshman Reagan Keller, a transfer from Colorado Springs. “She’s the real deal.”

Keller joins an Edgren team filled with veterans, including junior Nina Johnson on the girls side. Sophomores Aaden Mulhall, Stephen Bell, brothers Luke and Aiden Lehner and senior Andrew Schwehr fill out a loaded boys lineup.

Erler was a two-time Far East champion for the Eagles, clocking a then-record 18 minutes, 51.4 seconds in the 2021 virtual Far East meet, a mark that has since been broken by Matthew C. Perry’s Jane Williams.

Speaking of Williams, what will the Samurai do without 2023 Far East D-II champions Williams and Tyler Gaines, who are now running at the college level?

The cupboard is not entirely bare, coach Brad Cramer said, as Perry does have seven runners returning from last year’s D-II champion team.

Senior Jackson Jernigan is back along with juniors Xavier Mitchell, Aaron Lopez and Sam Williams on the boys side; and senior McKenzie Steele, junior Hannah Jernigan and sophomore Leilani Zuniga for the girls.

Kinnick, which won the Far East D-I girls team title last year, returns nine of its 12 girls runners, including seniors Mia Bartram and Avery Farrington. “Other teams were young last year; it will be different this year,” Red Devils coach Luke Voth said.

Junior Talan Farrington, Avery’s brother, returns for a boys team that’s relatively young.

For the first time in his three-year tenure, Cobras coach Mark Sewell features a full girls lineup; they just missed in the chase for D-II team points last season.

Senior Damian Perez, junior Jude Cutler and sophomore Nolan Grubb are back for the boys, as are senior Sage Lederman and sophomores Mya Schinker and Savannah Hays for the girls.

Eight years after his senior season at Yokota, former Far East champion Daniel Galvin takes over from his father, Dan, as the Panthers’ head coach, after serving as his assistant last season.

Seniors Willow Rose and Chloe Cunningham return, along with junior Matthew Rowland. “All three were solid in track last spring,” Galvin said.

Zama is in rebuild mode, with a new coach, Katrina Kemper. The Trojans are recruiting to bolster a lineup that features eight boys and three girls. Seniors Thomas Ginder and Aidan Gilmore return.