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Young, Kahlon advance for third place match in CCC singles
tennis
Karen Kahlon of Pitman High (left) and Turlock Highs Maya Young (right) advanced to the CCC Singles Tournament third place game and will meet each other on the Turlock High courts at 3 p.m. Wednesday. - photo by EDDIE RUIZ/The Journal

Maya Young of Turlock and Karen Kahlon of Pitman High will be squaring off for the third-place spot in the Central California Conference singles tournament after each advanced into the semifinals of the tourney in their final year in the league.

“The winner will advance to the Section Tournament in Roseville,” said Pitman head coach Jeff Hayes. “She played with confidence all day, and she's looking forward to her match tomorrow with a crosstown rival. Maya beat her once this season, and she's looking forward to the opportunity to even up.”

“She did awesome I thought,” said Turlock head coach Linda Bejaran about Young. “All three of our girls advanced past the first round and Maya obviously reached the semifinals.”

Aside from Young, Turlock also had Sophie Winfree and Mehr Sahota competing and each took care of business in the first round, winning outright.

Despite the Turlock Bulldogs missing their steady No. 2 Izzy Romeo due to an illness, all three pushed on.

Sahota toppled Riddhi Parikh of El Capitan, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. She ultimately fell to one of the finalists in Golden Valley's Chadue Lee, 6-1 and 6-0 in the quarterfinals.

Winfree won her opening match 6-2, 6-3 over Atwater's Anna Lozano before falling to Pitman's Kahlon 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.

Kahlon topped Alyssa Gutierrez of Atwater in the first match, 6-2, 6-1.

Eventually Kahlon lost to finalist Jenasis Yarrell of El Capitan in the semifinal, 6-0, 6-1.

“Karen was the No. 4 seed, she defeated No. 3 from Atwater and No. 4 from Turlock decisively. Jenasis proved to be more than she could handle,” said Hayes.

Pitman's second representative was Amrit Hayer, who lost to Merced's Katherine Ness in the first match, 6-0, 6-1.

Young topped Ness in the second round, 6-1, 6-2, which earned her a spot in the final four.

In the semifinals, Young met Lee, who was on a roll.

Young battled, losing 6-2, before winning the second set 6-2. Eventually, Young fell in a 10-point tiebreaker that ended 10-4.

“Maya seemed tired and her two opponents were very tough, she had a tough side,” said Bejaran. “Now if Maya wins, she goes to Sections for individuals, but if she doesn't, she will play doubles on Tuesday.”

Young and Kahlon will take on each other for the third place and final spot in Sections, from the Turlock High tennis courts at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Turlock also advances as a team into the Sac-Joaquin Section Tournament, which is slated to take place Monday or Tuesday against an opponent and time yet to be determined.