Following a week that saw rain delays cancel multiple matches for outdoor high school sports within the region, Hughson High School’s tennis team traveled to Orestimba High under the clear skies on Tuesday where they narrowly fell, 5-4.

Last week, Hughson had to cancel its road match against Sonora High School due to a rain delay. Similarly, Orestimba canceled two matches against Ripon Christian High School and Millennium High School (Tracy).

Hughson head coach Danny Rytting said the team’s cancellation against Sonora was the only match they’ve canceled so far this season, adding that it’s fortunate that they’ve dealt with one cancellation as he heard more teams canceling multiple matches because of the recent rain delay.

Both teams fared evenly in both the singles and doubles matches.

For Hughson, they won the two boys singles matches while Orestimba took home both girls singles matches.

Hughson’s Caleb Rytting dominated his singles match against Orestimba’s Chris Alvarado, 6-1, 6-0. Following Caleb Rytting, Aiden Ramos continued the Huskies' momentum in boys’ singles as he won both of his set matches against Orestimba’s Colton Reeves, 6-2, 6-4.

While the first match in the girls singles ended in two sets, it was a back-and-forth match between Hughson’s Aubrey Lockwood and Orestimba’s Mirella Fregoso as both sets ended in a tiebreaker. Following a 6-6 tiebreaker in the opening set, Fregoso won the tiebreaker match, 7-5, to win the set, 7-6. Similarly, the second set had a 6-6 tiebreaker where Fregoso ultimately won, 7-4, to win the set, 7-6. 

The match intensity was not only displayed in the score but also in the setting as both competitors began their match when the sky was clear and concluded it when the sun began to set.

While it’s not the result that Lockwood wanted, Fregoso had nothing but praise for her competitor, adding that this was the most intense singles match that she had played in all of her three seasons with Orestimba.

Sofiah Ramirez rounded out the girls' singles for Orestimba, winning both of her sets against Mia Mateo, 6-3, 6-1.

With both teams tied 2-2, their momentum from the singles carried into the doubles as they each won two matches.

For the first match in boys doubles, Orestimba’s Jose Rodriguez and Ernesto Chavez won both of their sets against Matthew Ruelas and Kayden Perez, 6-1, 6-1. Hughson bounced back with the help of performances from Inel Harrison and Julian Whiteside, who won their doubles match against Kevin Rodriguez and Nabeel Ali, 6-3, 6-1.

The first match of girls doubles displayed the competitive nature of both teams as it went to a third set. After Orestimba’s Mallory Solano and Giselle Marquez won the opening set, 7-5, Emma Dubel and Julie Robles bounced back for Hughson in the second set where they won 6-1, setting up a final set to play. However, Solano and Marquez proved too much for the Hughson duo to handle, 6-1.

Melissa Walls and Elena Alvarado helped Hughson bounce back as they won both sets in their doubles, 6-1, 6-0, against Alejandra Franco and Fernanda Alvarado.

Ultimately, the mixed doubles match proved to be the difference-maker as with the help of performances from Ashlynn Bell and Aaron Gallardo, Orestimba won 6-2, 6-2.

Despite losing, Rytting praised Hughson for how well they played throughout the various matches.

“I thought they all played hard, both teams and the number of the matches were really close,” Rytting said. “It came down to the last match and Orestimba came out on top.”

Hughson will look to bounce back as they host Escalon High School on Wednesday. The match will begin at 3:30 p.m.