It was supposed to be rebuilding year for the Auburn boys tennis team.

Last season the Trojans took fourth place in the South Puget Sound League North Division 4A with a 9-7 record, advancing the doubles team of Josh Jeter and Travis Hanley to the state tournament.

Coming into this season, however, coach Phil Smetheram found himself without the services of his top three players.

“We lost Josh Jeter, Jesse Fisher and Travis Hanley,” Smetheram said. “I thought it would totally be a rebuild year.”

Somebody forgot to tell that to this year’s team.

Currently, the Trojans are 5-3 – with wins over Kentlake, Kent-Meridian, Tahoma and 3A Auburn Mountainview – and are sitting in third place in the SPSL North behind perennial powerhouses Kentridge and Kentwood.

“The guys have just picked it up this year,” Smetheram said. “The guys knew they were going to have to pick it up because we weren’t going to have the two sure wins every time we go into a match. They saw the level of play that was in the SPSL North and took some time this summer to start playing. We’ve been pretty competitive.”

A large part of that has been the play of several individuals, including freshman Cole Jeter and senior Tim Hartke at No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, as well as the No. 1 doubles team of Brandon Wilber and Brenton Millard, both seniors.

“Cole Jeter is playing really well,” Smetheram added.

Jeter, the younger brother of Josh Jeter, is one of the team’s few club players who compete year round at the Boeing Tennis Club.

“I’m kind of taking my brother’s place,” Jeter said. “And the team is doing well.”

Jeter is currently 4-1 in singles play, with his only loss coming at the hands of Kentridge’s Matt Overland, last year’s second-place 4A finisher and fellow Boeing player.

Hartke, the team captain, also is proving to be a tenacious competitor for the Trojans with a 4-2 record. His two losses came against Kentwood’s Max Manthou, the reigning 4A state champion, and Kentridge’s Paul Yi, another state competitor from last year.

“Tim has been playing really, really well,” Smetheram said.

Wilber and Millard also have contributed with a 2-2 start at No.1 doubles.

Although individual play matters, according to Smetheram and Hartke, it’s the team unity that is making a difference.

“I knew we’d be able to compete,” Hartke said. “A lot of us have grown up playing tennis together, so we have a lot of team unity. What’s really keeping us together is the team unity. And we’re really competitive and able to pull together and come from behind.”

Smetheram added: “This team is pretty close. They get along well, they talk right before the match and talk after the match. They’re always laughing and it’s a good atmosphere at practices.”

According to Smetheram, it’s that team spirit, coupled with a competitive, never-say-die attitude, that allows the team to hang in there against the SPSL North heavyweights.

“One of the things about our school, Auburn, is that we don’t really have the club players,” he said. “So for our team to come out and compete with schools like Kentridge and Kentwood that do have the club players is great.

“Most of the players I get come out as seasonal players,” he said. “The thing about our program is that these kids come out and compete with a lot of heart. We’ll never dominate Kentwood or Kentridge.”

Although dreams of a SPSL North title and a slew of players moving on to the state tournament might be tantalizing, Smetheram remains grounded about the Trojans’ chances this year.

“Starting the year off I really didn’t know where we were going to place,” Smetheram said. “Losing the top two guys, a successful year for us would be placing about third place. And maybe getting a player or two onto the district tournament, or even onto state. That would be great.”

“I’d really like to make it to state,” Jeter said. “But (I) just (want) to play well at districts and play my best tennis. Maybe I get a really bad draw and have to play some of the really good seniors and don’t make it to state, but I’d still be happy if I play my best tennis. And then maybe by the time I’m a senior, I’ll be able to do really well at state.

“As a team, we just always want to go out there and play 110 percent,” Jeter said. “I mean, what else can you do?”