The Bishop O'Connell boys’ tennis team is having a strong season under the tutelage of veteran coach Bob Kluba. The Knights currently have an overall record of 9-3.

"I thought that we were going to be respectable this season," said Kluba. The Knights have defeated Ireton and Paul VI (twice each); and have also defeated McNamara, St. Mary's Ryken, Good Counsel, St. John’s and non-league foe Flint Hill.

The Knights recently dropped a narrow 5-4 match to powerhouse DeMatha. The outcome was decided by a "tie-breaker" in the doubles competition. Gonzaga, DeMatha and O'Connell constitute the upper echelon of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference this season. All three should be a force in the WCAC tournament May 4-6.

O'Connell is led by four seniors, one sophomore and two freshmen. Four-year starters Mani Barajas-Alexander (singles #1) and Nebyu Retta (singles #2) both rank high in all-time career wins at O'Connell.
Senior Chris Rouse (singles #6), sophomore Jonathan Retta (singles #4), freshman Emilio Barajas-Alexander (singles #3) and freshman Josh Labat
(singles #5) also comprise the Knights starting "singles" lineup.

"This is the first time in all my years of coaching tennis here at O'Connell that I've had a brother combination and this season we've got two of them (Mani and Emilio Barajas-Alexander and Nebyu and Jonathan Retta)," said Kluba.

At this writing, Emilio Barajas-Alexander leads the Knights with an overall season mark of 6-0.

"My forehand and my ground strokes have really improved lately. At the WCAC championships, I'm really going to try my best. We want to get everyone into the finals and we want to try to get the team gold medal and send the seniors out on a winning note," said Emilio Barajas-Alexander.

Labat (7-1), Mani Barajas-Alexander (8-2), Jonathan Retta (6-2), Nebyu Retta (8-3) and Chris Rouse (3-2) follow closely behind in win percentage.

"My serve and forehand are the best part of my game. At the WCAC championships, I want to stay mentally focused and strong. On any given day, anyone can defeat anyone," said Mani Barajs-Alexander.

"My ground game and my serve have improved throughout the season. At the WCAC championships, I need to play consistent and be mentally tough," said Jonathan Retta.

Exact "doubles" records aren't known as of this writing, but Mani Barajas- Alexander/Nebyu Retta comprise the doubles #1 team; Emilio Barajas-Alexander/Jonathan Retta comprise doubles #2 and Josh Labat/senior Adam Bialachowski comprise doubles #3. All three doubles pairs have winning records.

"We are pretty well balanced this year. The kids have really picked up the game and they have all developed well this season," said Kluba.