Monday marked the start of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs for local high school tennis teams that included Delhi, Denair, Pitman and Turlock High. All but Turlock fell in the opening round after the Bulldogs edged out the visiting Folsom Bulldogs, 6-3, on Tuesday in a comeback victory.
Turlock had a rough start in its first round Division I boys matchup , losing the first three singles matches. Number four singles player Ryan Asai put in one of the top performances of the afternoon, winning 3-6, 6-4 and 7-5, and keeping the postseason run alive.
“That match was pivotal and we were barely hanging on. He [Asai] battled and grinded it out and at the end pulled out the win,” said Turlock head coach Jack Schneider.
David Lazar pulled out a 6-4, 6-4 win over a very competitive Jeremy Yoa. The number six singles player, Johnny Brenda, then paved the way for the doubles teams after a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win and tying the dual at three apiece.
“Our doubles team is very strong and they are reliable, usually pretty easy matches when Nick and Eilen are out there,” Schneider said of his doubles teams.
Eilen Shabaz and Nick Vardeh, who make up the number one doubles team, topped their opponents with a deceiving score of 6-4, 4-6 and 6-1.
Then the number two and three doubles teams were able to sweep through in straight sets. Kellen Ireland and William Anderson won 6-3, 6-0 followed by a victory from Carlos Inegues and Cameron Sparks 6-2, 6-4.
“Our doubles cleaned the house very quick and it came down to the last two doubles and we needed one victory but got two,” Schneider said.
Next for Turlock will be either a home matchup against Jesuit or an away match at Armijo High on Monday at a time yet to be determined.
Pitman lost to Rocklin in the Division I boys tennis first round, 1-8.
In Division III co-ed tennis, Denair fell to Summerville in a 3-6 turnout for the Coyotes, despite a historically successful year for the varsity co-ed tennis program.
“It was a tough one to lose. It wasn't a normal day for sure,” said Denair head coach Bill Weber. “It was a great year, outstanding year, farther than we've ever gone before. The team should hold their heads high to achieve what they did for first timers and as a coach I am pumped."
Despite an unexpected defeat at home on Monday, the Coyotes came away with wins on the number one and two boys singles of Andrew Knapp and Brian Dudley and the number one singles girls Abi Wilson.
Denair ends the year with a 12-3 overall record.
Delhi, which was on the other half of the Div. III co-ed bracket, struggled in the opening round of the Divisional tournament as they were outmatched and outplayed by Escalon, 2-7.
The only wins for the Hawks came from Clarissa Meza and Denice Gonzalez on the girls doubles side and Miguel Preciado and Itzel Perez, who won for the mixed doubles.
