Mike Belsito is no stranger to playing a marquee role in Woodland Hills athletics.

If you've taken in a high school sporting event in Turtle Creek, Edgewood or Forest Hills over the past four years, there's a good chance you saw this 5-foot-10, 160-pound senior in action. His resume includes being:

An all-conference punter on the football team who kicked a 42-yard field goal in a WPIAL playoff contest last fall;

A bowler who finished in the top 10 at the state high school bowling championships last month;

A key contributor to the Wolverines soccer team, the sport that he has played the longest and enjoys the most;

A track and field competitor for the first time this season, participating in as many as three short- to middle-distance running events;

The top player on the Woodland Hills tennis team.

This is a new role in tennis. A starter for most of the previous three years, Belsito bided his time behind top players such as Sean Curley and Adam Solomon.

Now he is the leader of the team and is playing first singles, which can be a daunting task, considering that matches him up with some top players.

"It's more fun," Belsito said. "It's a good challenge. I like playing against better players."

It's obvious Belsito is a good athlete -- he will be punting and kicking off for Division II Ashland University in Ohio beginning this fall. But what sets him apart in tennis isn't anything flashy, Woodland Hills coach Jeff Schulte said.

"His greatest asset is, he's consistent," Schulte said. "He doesn't double fault a lot, he's consistent with his ground strokes, his forehand, his backhand.

"He's not an extremely hard-hitting player, but he's a very consistent player."

Belsito is one of three seniors who generally fill the singles positions for Woodland Hills, which had a 4-3 record heading into this week. Youssef Abdelwahab and Mike Seman are the others.

Those latter two have had some injury troubles, but when they are "on" and 100 percent, Schulte believes they are among the best second and third singles players in the section.

"Every year, it seems like -- and this is my third year -- I usually end up with at least one or two really decent No. 1 and 2 players," Schulte said.

"And right now, I feel like I've got three."

The team's fourth returning starter is junior Sam Wessel, who has been usually been playing first double with junior Bill Gorol. Second doubles has been manned by Andrew Wellman and Zack Boslett.

It's a lineup that would have Woodland Hills in contention for a title in many sections. But Section 3-AAA contains perennial WPIAL powers Fox Chapel and Shady Side Academy.

"It's tough, but we've got a good group of kids," Schulte said. "I'm going have most of them back next year -- I only graduate three seniors again.

"We've just got to compete the best we can."

The Wolverines expect to be right in the thick of a tight race for third place.

Schulte described his goals for the season: "To have a winning season and to have fun and improve over the summer break and come back as improved tennis payers," he said. "We're trying to improve since last year and continue to improve throughout the year."