Oak Harbor High School tennis coach Horace Mells will build his starting lineup around five returning letter winners.

Junior Jackson Wezeman, who earned first-team, all-conference honors last year, returns to handle the No. 1 singles slot.

He finished fourth in the Wesco North singles tournament and seventh at district last season.

Seniors Raymond Paraiso and Calib Byers are likely to man second and fourth singles, respectively, according to Mells.

Senior lettermen Jared Hunt and Matthew Hallahan are slated for first doubles.

Newcomers will fill out the rest of the starting group.

Junior foreign exchange student Rodrigo Columbo will play third singles; senior Matt Molitor and junior Sid Thomas are set for second doubles; senior Azia Sanders and junior Jose Cabigting will team up for third doubles; and juniors Noel Pangilinan and Corbin Phipps will be the fourth doubles duo.

“At the start of the season our strength will be in singles with our experienced returning varsity players,” Mells said. “Our weakness will be in doubles as our first-time varsity players gain varsity experience and learn new strokes and strategies for winning doubles.”

The team’s goals, according to Mells, are to finish in the top three in the league and advance at least one singles player and one doubles team to district.

The Wildcats posted a 5-5 Wesco record last fall, good for third place, and finished 5-7 overall.

Oak Harbor starts the season at Mount Vernon at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, and then hosts Glacier Peak at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14.