Oakdale High School

Oakdale Trio Looking To Light Up The Court

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They aren’t exactly Athos, Porthos and Aramis, but Robbie Earle, Blake Dunn and Daniel Dunning are Oakdale High’s version of the Three Musketeers, or Three Racketeers, rather.

The three returning singles players on the Mustang boys tennis teams are among the best in the Valley Oak League, and lead a skilled group of players into a strong 2010 season.

All three saw singles success last year as the Mustangs played to a second place VOL finish to Sonora.

Earle’s athleticism was on display in a 12-3 win over Central Valley on Friday. He won each of his matches in 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 fashion, and added a between-the-legs return of a lob to win a thrilling point.

“I have not been lucky enough to view a shot that great from a high school student in at least 10 years,” Oakdale coach Grant Miller said. “It was impressive.”

Dunning and Dunn also went 3-0 in the win over the Hawks. Dunning won in 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 scores while Dunn added 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 tallies. Paul Perrone and Ben Kirby went 1-1 in doubles matches, dropping a 10-5 match to the Hawks’ top doubles team and ousting the second 10-1. Jared Firstbrook and Jeremy Willinger went 5-10, 10-3 in doubles matches as well.

The Mustangs were reeling from a surprising 4.5-10.5 loss to host Ceres a day prior. Dunn joined Raul Massie on a doubles team that went 5-10, 10-3 while Earle and Perrone won in 10-0, 10-3 fashion.

In singles, Dunning, Willinger and Kirby were all unable to collect wins against a stiff lineup of Bulldog players. Ceres standout Luis Ochoa went 6-0 against all three Mustangs.

“(Against Ceres) we struggled, and can’t wait to see them at our place next round,” Miller said. “This week was an up and down week.”

The Mustangs will wage a big VOL battle with Manteca on Thursday, a year after Oakdale tied the Buffaloes for second place honors. With Sonora back for another run at the title and certain improvement from Ceres, it should be an interesting run of VOL contests as programs vie for one of two advancements into the postseason.

Oakdale lost a coin toss with Manteca last year to miss the playoffs, an aspect of team history Miller hopes the Mustangs will not repeat.

“If we don’t finish in the top three I will be really surprised,” Miller said. “We should have a real solid season if we can ¾ cross our fingers ¾ see no big injuries.

“Thursday’s match with Manteca will be huge, because if we can win that we will have a inside track to one of those playoff spots.”