Freshman Russell Naumann, the Mules’ top singles player this year, sends the ball hurtling back over the net during his doubles match with Steele Sept. 30, as his partner Corbett Austin looks on in the background. Photo by Marvin Pfeiffer

The Mules tennis team is in the zone and set to find the sweet spot this season, going 4-0 in District 27-4A matches so far.

Alamo Heights varsity tennis coach Larry Oxford, in his second year back at the school, is impressed by the young Mules this season and has hopes they’ll go far.

Oxford, who coached Mules varsity tennis from 1974 to 1989, but left for a foray into the legal profession, has returned to help the Mules return to prominence.

“We have three senior boys and three senior girls and a lot of good freshmen,” Oxford said. “We’ve got three or four players in each class on the team.”

Gone from last year’s team, which finished second in District 27-4A and fourth in the Regional tournament, are standout players Brian Goodman on the boy’s side and Josephine Ruiz-Healy and Andrea Kline for the girls. Ruiz-Healy has taken her game to Columbia while Kline is holding forth at North Carolina.

“They were all outstanding and did a great job as seniors,” Oxford said of the trio. “They set a good standard for the younger players to follow and they did a great job.”

Despite losing that talent, the Mules have a quite a bit returning. “Our seniors this year are doing a great job,” Oxford said.

Johnny Gragg, a three-year letterman, returns for the Mules as the No. 2 singles as do Alex Alfaro and Marissa Shults.

“Alfaro and Shults played really well at No. 2 doubles and at No. 3 and No. 4 singles,” Oxford said. “They’re both seniors and they were lettermen last year.”

A notable addition to the team this year is newcomer Johnny Naumann, a freshman who has already catapulted himself to the No. 1 singles position on the boy’s team. Naumann, along with Gragg, give the boys a solid 1-2 punch.

Standouts on this year’s girl’s team include junior Marianna Seale and sophomore Iris Wigodsky. Seale was Ruiz-Healy’s partner last year in doubles that took second in district and third at regionals. Wigodsky won the district singles championship last year.

“We have a pretty good team … a young team,” Gragg said. “Boerne is our biggest rival. We’re excited about the season.”

“We’ve got a winning record,” Gragg said on Tuesday before the Mules district match with Steele that afternoon. “We’re 3-0 in district matches so far and hopefully this will be 4-0 today.”

That was easily accomplished, as the Mules rolled over the Knights by a 17-2 score. They had earlier bested Seguin 16-3, New Braunfels Canyon 14-0 and Kerrville Tivy 18-1. The biggest match on their schedule was this Tuesday’s game against Boerne Champion at the Alamo Heights Tennis Center, which hadn’t been played as the paper went to press.

“Boerne is very strong,” Oxford said. “They’ve won our district for the last four years. We played them close three times last year, but in the dual match in the finals of district and the third place match in regionals, they beat us about the same score each time.”

Boerne is expected once again to be the hurdle that the Mules have to clear to advance further into the playoffs.

The first round of the District 27-4A Championships is scheduled for Tuesday at a site to be determined. A Mules victory over Champion would give them a bye into this round.

The district championship round will be held Oct. 17 and 18 in Kerrville. The top two teams from that meet advance to the regional championships in San Antonio Oct. 31 to Nov. 1 and that winner advances to the state championship in Austin Nov. 7 and 8.

“We’re just trying to get better every day and we’ll be competitive, but on that particular day you have to execute just a little better than the other guys,” Oxford said. “We were close last year and hopefully we can do a little better this year but it’s very tough. We’ll be giving it our best shot.”