ARLINGTON — Coming off the best season in school history in 2009, the Eagles now enter the next phase of the program: building, learning and reloading.

But that is never easy — no matter how good a team was — especially when losing nine integral seniors.

“This is going to be a different kind of year for us,” said Arlington coach Sean Cunningham. “There is the talent on this team to be competitive, it’s just a matter of getting it ready to play varsity-level tennis.”

In a way, Cunningham sees himself in a position similar to where he was two years ago, when he took over as head coach of the Eagles. The only difference, he said, is that he had a better idea of what the bunch was capable back then, when it finished 11-5 a year later in a tie for second place in the Wesco North.

Leading a group of new faces will be Austin Taylor, who was the No. 2 singles player last year.

“Austin is a good building block for us,” Cunningham said. “And he’s taken a real leadership role on this team.”

Following Taylor, Cunningham sees a few underclassmen as making an impact, starting with sophomores Tyler Bradford and Brandon Kennedy and continuing through freshman Trent Sarver.

Part of the youth movement has to do with a numbers element to the program, which has seen a drop in participation the past two years. With just 24 kids on the team, Cunningham said he is changing his recruiting approach to getting more kids to turnout. He also said he doesn’t mind kids coming out even now that the season has already started.

The next step is teaching the things that made the 2009 group become a force in the Wesco North.

“There’s a mental toughness that these guys are going to have to learn — how to finish matches,” he said. “And I’m trying to teach them that you have to play cohesively in this league to win.”

And the realignment of the Wesco has made the 4A standings even more difficult, as the Eagles will have to play top programs Kamiak, Edmonds-Woodway, Jackson and Mariner.