There's such a thing as a veteran squad, and then there's the Jefferson City boys tennis team.
You could put together the cumulative varsity experience of some three-year spans of teams from the past and not come up with the massive amount of court time logged by these Jays.
Start at the top of the singles lineup, where you have seniors David Clausen, David Steinmeyer and Spencer Bone.
"It's the fourth year on varsity for all of them - they've been through this three times and know what to expect," Jefferson City coach Henry Thompson said.
Keep going to the Nos. 4 and 5 spots, where it's two more seniors in Dane Biesemeyer and Isaac Roling.
"Dane Biesemeyer was No. 4 last year, so he's been through this process before," Thompson said. "And Isaac Roling spent his first two years on the varsity before sitting out last year to get ready for football, so having him back is a huge lift."
You have to get to the No. 6 position before you find someone not a senior, but sophomore Joey Mendez also has some experience.
"Joey Mendez was our No. 5 last year, so every kid in our top six has had at least one, if not two or three, years of varsity experience," Thompson said. "And there's no substitute for that."
Backing up that group are freshman Karsten McMillan, senior Kader Fees and junior Josh Morris.
"We've got very high expectations this year, I'd be lying if I didn't say that," Thompson said. "... We're very, very deep, and that's a huge advantage for us."
How deep? The Jays' massive roster consists of a whopping 35 players. But it's that group at the top that has Thompson really excited.
"We want to make some noise this year," he said. "This senior class has what it takes to leave an incredible legacy at the school. Those top three, four or five kids have an incredible focus. They've always been focused before, but you can tell now they really want this to happen."
The "this" Thompson is referring to is a possible trip to the Final Four. The main obstacle could be what it always is - the Rock Bridge Bruins, who have made 13 consecutive trips to the Final Four.
"I'll be honest, it's been since 2007 that we beat Rock Bridge, and for us to get where we want to go, we're going to have to figure out how to beat them," Thompson said. "Every year it's our goal. We have a tremendous amount of respect for their program, but I feel like we can compete with them. We'll see what happens."
Thompson said the key to beating the Bruins may be the Jays simply believing they can.
"They've played against these kids before and know that Rock Bridge is a good team," he said. "But we really want them to understand that we have what it takes to compete with them this year, more so than in the past."
To that end, the Jays will play a rugged schedule in hopes it will prepare them for the postseason. It begins today with a 4 p.m. match against Camdenton at Washington Park.
"Putting together our schedule this year was very difficult, to find what we thought was a challenging mix of matches for this group," Thompson said. "We feel like we've done a really good job. Unfortunately many of them are on the road and not at home, but to get good competition, sometimes that's what you have to do."
Thompson added the Jays are ready to get the season started, as they're growing tired of playing each other over and over in practice. But that's been helpful to establish an order for a very deep lineup, except for the top spot, which is firmly held by Clausen, a Washburn University recruit.
"David made it to (individual) state last year and obviously he's got the goal of making it back this year and having a more successful outing once there," Thompson said. "Getting to state was a huge accomplishment for him and now that he's gotten there, he's very motivated to get back there and make a lot of noise there.
"The other kids saw how special of an opportunity it was for him to get there, and they're motivated because they want to try to get there too.
"David is a great leader for us. He'll be playing tennis at Washburn next year, so just having that decision off his shoulders is letting him relax and I think he's going to have a phenomenal year."
The Jays have been playing ladder matches since the second week of practice to help sort out the lineup, and that won't end anytime soon.
"It's a great problem to have to have this depth," Thompson said. "Those kids at 4 through 9, they're all so close in talent and abilities, it just comes down to who's playing better that day.
"We do feel like slowly and gradually, it's working itself out. It's not likely (today's order) is how it's going to end."
The doubles teams are also a work in progress. That's an area that will get some added emphasis this season, as a change means doubles will be played first in the postseason.
"During the season, we're going to try to start off with doubles first so once we get to districts, it's not a surprise or a shock," Thompson said.