One player possesses a strong forehand and likes to poach frequently. The other uses deft placement and is steady on the big points. Combining those skills, along with a few more, they comprise one of the top high school doubles team in Ventura County in recent memory.

The two players are Oaks Christian School seniors Eric Hawkins and Michael Lee. Since teaming up shortly before their sophomore year, the duo of 5-foot-8 right-handers has been nearly unbeatable and recently pulled off a difficult three-peat with their third consecutive Tri-Valley League doubles titles.

"Every coach in our league has told me they are glad (Michael and Eric) are graduating," said Oaks Christian coach Steve Abraham.

For good reason. In approximately 100 sets in three years, Hawkins and Lee have lost just four. They won 87 sets in a row from early in their sophomore season until losing to Nordhoff's Nick Thorp and Sam Seiders in the last match of the regular season, 6-4. Hawkins and Lee avenged that loss a week later in the TVL Championships with a 6-0, 6-1 win.

The formation of this partnership was not some grand plan. When they were freshmen at Oaks Christian, Hawkins and Lee first attempted to make their mark in singles. With the results spotty to say the least, they realized doubles might be the better way to go. Especially after the summer following their freshman year.

Lee and his family had the benefit of having a tennis court in the backyard of their Camarillo home. Hawkins and Lee started playing there that summer, but that's not all they did. They searched for as many doubles tournaments as they could find to play in.

The experience and confidence built during that offseason soon carried over to their Oaks Christian team.

"During tryouts (in 2006) we had a top returning doubles team, but (Eric and Michael) blew them out," Abraham said.

From that point on, Hawkins and Lee became a powerhouse team, earning many wins by convincing scores. Even when they struggled, they still managed to win.

Hawkins and Lee would have liked to have led Oaks Christian to a CIF championship this season, but the Lions were eliminated by Beverly Hills 15-3 in the Division III quarterfinals on Tuesday. Beverly Hills is ranked No. 2 in Division III. However, Oaks Christian was not at full strength. A shoulder injury limited Hawkins to just one set and top singles player Sean Levesque is still bothered by a tender back.

Still, Hawkins and Lee will leave knowing they accomplished a lot at Oaks Christian.

Abraham has certainly appreciated the impact his top doubles team has provided Oaks Christian the last three years.

"It's been nice to be able to mark down an automatic three points in doubles," Abraham said.

Passing shots: Thacher, competing in Division V, is the lone Ventura County team remaining in the CIF boys' tennis championships. The Toads defeated Beaumont 11-7 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. ... The CIF Individual championships, which takes singles and doubles players who advanced out of league tournaments, resumes Friday at Cate High and Carpinteria High. Kyle McMorrow of Thousand Oaks and Sasha Hedberg of Oxnard are two area players competing in singles. ... Former Oaks Christian standout Stephanie Lee (Michael's sister) enjoyed a solid sophomore season at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. Lee, who had a 15-2 record playing at No. 2 singles and an 18-2 mark at No. 1 doubles, was named to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference all-conference team in singles and doubles. ... LSU junior Mykala Hedberg (Oxnard High) was selected along with partner Megan Falcon to compete in doubles at the NCAA Division I women's doubles championships, which will be held May 21-26 at the University of Tulsa. Hedberg and Falcon are ranked No. 22 in the nation and have a 12-4 overall record in dual play, 5-2 against ranked opponents this season. ... There is probably only one word to describe the Ventura College men's team this season: dominant. The Pirates picked up their level of play during the playoffs and capped things off with a state championship last Thursday in Long Beach. ... Camarillo's Mike and Bob Bryan are riding a nine-match winning streak as they play in this week's Hamburg (Germany) Masters. One reason for the recent success has been improving their results in match tiebreakers. In the nine tournament they have played that employ the match tiebreakers, the Bryans have played 16. They have won the last three and are now 11-5 in match tiebreakers for the season.

— Keith Kropp writes on tennis for The Star. E-mail address: kkropp@VenturaCountyStar.com.