Boys Tennis

The Oak Harbor Boys Tennis team starts off their 10th season under head coach Horace Mells, Jr on Sep 10th at home against Lake Stevens.

The team is very short in numbers this year, so short, in fact, that there may not be any JV matches all season. The JV and varsity teams require 10 players each, but there are only 18 players available right now.

At the top of that list is junor Derek Thomas, the Wildcats #1 singles. While an outstanding player, there are some concerns with a recurring injury. Right behind Thomas is senior Ron Evans, moving up from #3 last year.

Coach Mells attended high school in Arkansas and graduated college from Hawaii Pacific University during his career in the US Army. He's been playing tennis for 32 years and coaching for 12. He is assisted by Garry Brown of the Safe Harbor Insurance Agency, who is also in his 10th year at Oak Harbor.

Last years' team finished in 5th place, which is the best finish OH has had in many years. Due to the low numbers, Coach Mells expects a similar finish this year in team standings, so will be concentrating his efforts in two main areas. First, we wants to introduce the game to the underclassmen. Of all the freshmen who turned out for the team, none have any competitive playing experience. Coach Mells also wants to make sure each individual on the team improves every facet of their game, while at the same time instilling strong sportsmanship and citizenship attitudes in the players.

39 photos from Friday's practice have been posted at http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/OakHarborSports/highschool/BTennis95practice