The Turlock boys tennis team has been perfect through the first three weeks of the 2024 season. They have a 7-0 record, including a 5-0 record in Central California Athletic League competition. Not only that, but the Bulldogs have not lost a match since Feb. 27 when they defeated Gregori 7-2. Their latest victim was their crosstown rival, the Pitman Pride, on Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday’s clash was originally intended to be played Tuesday, but was postponed due to rain. It marked the second instance in which a meet was postponed, the first being against Enochs earlier this month. But five meets in a nine day span hasn’t fazed the Bulldogs.
Representing the ‘Dogs in league singles matches have been Erik Peterson, Peter Wilson, Damian Acosta, Rashmeet Singh, Matteo Hernandez and Peter Blue. The double teams are made up of Jesse Gomez and Edris Tarakhail, Yaqoob Tarakhail and Maddox Pearson, and Ashur Ziya and Abraham Wooley.
Only one of Wednesday’s matches against Pitman went to a third set, which was the doubles match between Gomez-Tarakhail duo and the Pride’s Calvin Lin and Ethan Hoftsteen. Gomez and Tarakhail won 6-4 in the opening set before dropping the second 6-2. They rebounded with a 10-5 win in the third to clinch the win.
Wilson, Turlock’s top ranked player, defeated Ryan Yamamoto 6-1, 6-0. Peterson, Turlock’s two, won similarly over Anthony Stessman 6-0, 6-1. Acosta won over Christiano Barkhoy with identical 6-2 scores. Singh also had mirroring scores of 6-4 against Matthew Yaghoubi. Hernandez defeated Derrick Orth 6-4, 6-3 to round out the singles. The group of Tarakhail and Pearson beat Ben Valdez and Jordan Aguilar 6-2, 6-1 while Ziya and Wooley rounded the doubles with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Sebastian Russell and Wesley Hayes.
“It’s been a busty but fun and exciting season so far,” said Turlock head coach Garry Harris. “Two games were postponed due to rain, but that’s out of our control. What we can control is our preparation for when we play matches. The boys have been practicing so hard and it shows in our results.”
The Bulldogs will look to improve on their 7-0 start on March 26 when they take a trip to Modesto to take on Gregori in their second and final meeting of the regular season.
As for the Pride, the 9-0 loss dropped them to 3-4 on the season and 2-3 in league play. They were last victorious on March 5 against Downey, defeating the Knights 6-3. They have a shorter turnaround time than the Bulldogs, as they will take on El Capitan in Merced on March 20 in non-league action. They are back at it in CCAL play on March 26 when they host Modesto High.
