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Bulldogs tennis opens season on high note
Turlock tennis 1
Erik Petersen, the Bulldogs’ No. 1 singles player, notched a win over Merced’ James Tetangco in nonconference action on Monday (JOE CORTEZ/The Journal).

Turlock High’s boys tennis team turned in a dominating performance to open the 2024 season, defeating Merced 8-1 in a non-conference matchup on Monday at the THS courts.

Erik Petersen, the Bulldogs’ No. 1 singles player, got things started with a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 win over James Tetangco.

Turlock No. 2 Peter Wilson was a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Parth Misra, while No. 4 Matteo Hernandez downed Ian Hamstead 4-6, 7-5, 10-6.

Rashmeet Singh defeated Nehemiah Robinson 4-6, 6-2, 10-5 in the No. 5 singles matchup, and Peter Buie bested Caleb Bruner in straight sets — 7-5, 6-2 — in the No. 6 matchup.

Merced’s Brandon Liwang beat Damian Acosta 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 3 singles matchup for the Bears’ lone victory of the day.

After taking the first set, Peterson fell behind 5-2 in the second, but broke Tetangco’s serve in the eighth game and was serving for a chance to pull within 5-4. However, Tetangco broke back in the ninth game to secure the second set and force a 10-point tiebreaker. Peterson held on to win.

“He forced me to go to the net and hit a lot of volleys,” said Peterson. “It took a while for my volley game to get warmed up, but I feel like I played well today.

“The team seems to be strong and everybody seems to be working really hard. It’s going to be very competitive for the top three spots this year.”

In doubles action, Turlock’s Edris Tarakhail and Jessie Gomez topped Forrest Johnson and Essey Afewerki 6-1, 7-5 in the No. 1 match, while the Bulldogs’ No. 2 duo of Ashur Ziya and Abraham Wooley topped Connor Schusler and Jayden Lux 6-1, 6-0.

In the No. 3 double matchup, Yaqoob Tarakhail and Maddox Pearson defeated Alexander Hampton and Carlos Martinez 6-3, 6-2 

Turlock was in action again on Tuesday against Gregori and will travel to Modesto on Thursday to take on Enochs. Of Friday and Saturday, the Bulldogs will take part in the California Tennis Classic in Clovis.