The Turlock Christian High School tennis team recently wrapped up one of their most successful seasons in history, going undefeated as a group in eight games in the Southern Athletic League and winning their first matchup in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Co-Ed Division II bracket.
The No. 5 seed in their playoff bracket, the Eagles edged out No. 4 Sacramento County Day on the road by a 5-4 score in the opening match on May 8. It marked the school’s first ever playoff win in the sport.
The opening round win set up a date five days later with top-seeded Colfax, who began their playoff run with a 9-0 win over fellow Southern League program Denair. Colfax pulled out a 7-2 victory over TC and went on to lose to Ripon Christian in the championship.
In their playoff victory, Vittoria Chierici was the lone winner in individual contests, winning her two sets by 6-4, 6-0 scores.
The Eagles dominated the doubles. Christian and Michael Perez won with a pair of 6-2 sets, Michella Ha and Jillian Clark won with 6-0 and 6-1 scores, and Aiden Johnson and Sophie Teixeira winning the mixed match 6-1, 6-0. Meanwhile, Claire Betts and Sydney Mohr won in three sets, dropping the first 4-6 and coming back for 6-1 and 6-2 scores.
Multiple Eagles had strong individual campaigns this season.
Senior Tyler Kelley was undefeated in the league’s individual boys’ competitions, winning Southern League Most Valuable Player and All-League First Team. While he was dominant by himself, he teamed up with fellow classman Isaac Betts for the SAL doubles tournament, which they won.
Coming in as the runner-up was senior Joseph Kuykendall, who achieved a 6-2 record in the regular season. His efforts on the year earned him First Team All-League, as well.
Like Kelley, senior Faith Hayes led the Eagles by going undefeated in the regular season and winning the SAL girls’ individual tournament en route to earning an MVP and All-League First Team honor of her own.
Hayes defeated Chierici in the girls’ individual final. Chierici, a senior, was also undefeated in the regular season before dominating in tournament play.
Winning it all in SAL girls’ doubles play Betts and Mohr, who were 6-1 in league. During the doubles tournament, Betts and Mohr had to face a plethora of regular No. 1 and No. 2 individuals on opposing teams who were defeated by Chierici, as individuals eliminated in their tournament the day prior are eligible to compete in doubles. It was no problem, as they won all three of their contests.
Johnson and Teixeira were the runner-up in the SAL mixed doubles championship. The duo went undefeated in seven matches together in the regular season and carried their dominance into the SAL mixed doubles tournament.
