2012 MANTECA BULLETINALL-AREA BOYS TENNIS TEAM
Michael Lopez, Manteca freshman: Buffaloes’ No. 2 player stunned top-seeded Josh Smith of Sonora in the VOL Tourney en route to a runner-up finish.
Yok-Jing Ma, Manteca freshman: Earned all-league honors by winning the Flight 2 title and represented half of the league’s championship doubles team.
Sukhman Singh, Weston Ranch junior: Upset Forrest Tolman and was a point away from beating the eventual champ in the semifinals of the singles tourney.
Forrest Tolman, Sierra senior: Only losses in VOL dual matches were to Smith, as he twice swept conference champ and All-Area Player of the Year Oral Nunis.
Jacob Webb, Manteca sophomore: Confident lefty reached the semis of the Flight 2 singles tourney and joined Ma for a run to the doubles championship.
— Jonamar Jacinto
A brash 11-year-old once declared that he will one day be the No. 1 boys tennis player for Manteca High.
That was Oral Nunis, and he made his bold prediction to then first-year Manteca head coach Frank Fontana.
“He just looked at me and said, ‘Nah,’” said Nunis, a tennis newbie at the time.
Nunis admitted to be a difficult pupil for his coach during his early high school years, but this past spring he was named both captain and earned the distinction as the team’s No. 1 singles player. He went on to become the singles champion of the Valley Oak League and is the Manteca Bulletin’s 2012 All-Area Boys Tennis Player of the Year.
“I think I proved myself,” Nunis said with a laugh.
Nunis was a part of two VOL championship teams and led the Buffaloes to a 14-0 conference record this past spring. He and then-freshman Jacob Webb were formidable as doubles partners last year, but 2012 was his chance to finally break out on his own.
“I wasn’t really nervous playing singles, I was actually excited,” Nunis said. “It was something new, and I kind of wanted to play singles anyway.”
He didn’t just want to play singles. He wanted to do so from the top spot in the lineup.
Problem: Nunis had serious competition, including his old doubles teammate Webb. Then there were freshmen Michael Lopez and Yok-Jing Ma.
“At the beginning of the year, Fontana told us (returners) that even though we’ve been here a couple years it doesn’t mean we’re guaranteed a spot,” Nunis said. “I knew I had to prove myself and show the underclassmen why I’m the No. 1 guy.”
Arguably the most physically gifted athlete in the league, he was, for the most part, a dominant No. 1 for Manteca during the regular season, losing only to Sonora’s Josh Smith and Sierra’s Forrest Tolman twice each.
Nunis peaked at the VOL Tournament, although the title didn’t come easily.
He struggled against Sukhman Singh, the No. 2 player out of Weston Ranch who had upset second-seeded Tolman 8-3 in the opening round.
Singh appeared to be on his way to another stunner when he had No. 3 Nunis on the ropes up 40-love with a 5-4 lead in the second set. He had already pocketed the first set, 6-4.
Nunis battled back to steal the set, 7-5, then decisively won the third, 6-2.
That set the stage for an all-Buffalo final pitting Nunis with Lopez, who had picked up major momentum with an 8-3 upset of top-seeded Smith.
Nunis prevailed, 0-6, 7-6, 6-2. And it was sweeter than it was bitter.
“It was a fun match,” he said. “It was definitely awkward playing a teammate for the championship, but I really wanted to win it. It’s my senior year, and he has three years to take the title. I did my best to win that.”
Like Nunis, Lopez has some competition from teammates. Ma won the Flight 2 title in the VOL Tournament and joined Webb to earn the conference’s doubles crown.
“They’re playing well now, but they are only going to get much better,” Nunis said. “Jacob has improved so much, and he only started playing last year. Mikey and Yok are both going to be great players. They’ll be fine.”
