Coming off a second-place finish in the Wesco North last spring, the Oak Harbor High School tennis team will lean on eight letter winners in an effort to move up to the top spot this year.

Three seniors, Tamia Rios, Aelizah Espiritu and Peyton Carlson, will most likely hold down the top three singles spots, according to coach Horace Mells.

Senior Emma Lerch may play singles or could team up with the the other returning letter winners – seniors Emily Brown and Sarah Smith and juniors Emma Wezeman and Maddie McKenzie – to fill out the doubles lineup.

Key newcomers, according to Mells, are senior Maya Krantz; juniors Brooke Taylor, Chloe Stowell, Johanna Schmidt, Alyssa Schneider, Katrina Martinez and Alyssa McCauley; and sophomore Meng Juan Timm.

“Our strength will be in singles play with the return of our No. 2 singles player and three other players with some experience from last season,” Mells said. “Our weakness will be in doubles while first-time varsity players are learning the style of play and gaining familiarity with their partners.”

Mells’ goals are for this team to finish in the top three in the league, win at least 10 of 16 matches and advance at least one singles player and one doubles team to district.

Oak Harbor, which was 8-8 (7-3) last year, starts the season with a non-league home match at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 14, against Mount Vernon.