After a Decade, Boys’ Tennis Wins League

Dr. Joel Perttula has waited since 2014 to celebrate a Marmonte League championship with the Oaks Christian boys’ tennis program.

On April 16, he got the Gatorade bath he’d been waiting for when the Lions capped off a perfect 10-0 season in Marmonte League play.

“I have to be honest, that was my first ever Gatorade bath and I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Oaks Christian tennis coach Perttula said. “The boys had been planning it, so they were the ones who got the Gatorade jug, and I didn’t see it coming at all.”

After claiming the team title, the Lions rolled into the postseason tournaments continuing their success. Dylan Lin, ranked as the No. 3 seed in the Marmonte League Finals Individuals Tournament. Lin defeated the No. 2 seed, Agoura’s Chris Kasparian, 7-5, 6-1. He proceeded into the finals where he knocked off Newbury Park’s Jesse Tang 6-0, 6-1 to claim the individual title.

“The boys look to Dylan for leadership and to set the tone of the program,” Perttula said. “I couldn’t pick a better time for him to be locked in and start playing his best tennis.”

That leadership has carried into the CIF-SS Div. 2 playoffs, as the Lions opened the postseason tournament with a win at Walnut High School. The doubles team of Christian Castro and Giuseppe Serrao swept their sets in the playoff opener 6-1, 6-2, 6-0.

Perttula credits Serrao’s selflessness with their success this season.

“Giuseppe Serrao is a singles player who wanted to help beef up the doubles. He filled up a spot where we needed him and him and Christian Castro have raised the level from us,” the coach said. “In tennis we talk about set wins, but having Giuseppe buy into what he could do to help us win was an off-court win.”

Castro and Serrao have yet to drop a set as a pairing this season. They also won the Marmonte League Doubles Tournament.

“They’re very aggressive and solid on their groundstrokes. They bring a lot of leadership and confidence for the other boys,” Perttula said of his No. 1 doubles team.

Freshman Gavin Guo is home-grown, joining the high school team after coming up through the ranks of Oaks Christian Middle School. The Lion newcomer has found a doubles partner is Sohan Shah that has been a potent combination.

Junior Tristan Girodet took two sets in his postseason debut against Walnut, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0. Perttula said he’s one of the most improved players on the roster this season.

“The guy eats and sleeps tennis and that’s all he does. He loves the game, and you can tell by his results this season,” Perttula said.

Dante Vladimirov and Xianghan Hou competed as the No. 3 doubles team against Walnut, winning a set 6-1.

After advancing to the CIF-SS Div. 2 second round, the Lions will host Campbell Hall at Pepperdine University. Perttula is hoping history will repeat itself. In 2014, the Lions went 16-2, undefeated in league, and won the programs lone CIF title.

“We’ve been wanting this for so long and now that we’ve got this, we’ve got so much good energy, momentum, and belief,” Perttula said. “We want to keep going from here. It’s cool to get league title, but we want a CIF title.”