The inevitable happened.The Turlock High girls tennis players knew before Wednesday afternoon’s match against St. Francis High in the semifinals of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I Tournament was going to be a tall task, considering the Troubadours have been the superiors of their sport for the past few years.To be clear: St. Francis is the five-time defending Section champion.The Troubadours took another step toward their sixth straight title after taking all nine matches (9-0) against the Bulldogs on the St. Francis tennis courts in Sacramento, ending their successful season that included four consecutive Central California Conference title and a 34-0 league record in the past three seasons — not to mention having senior Elise Cusenza win the No. 1 singles title in the CCC.St. Francis, which finished Wednesday not having lost in its 27 singles and doubles matches, has eliminated the Bulldogs from the postseason in two of the last three years on the school’s way to another championship. That run also includes knocking off Turlock in the 2008 semifinals.For topping Turlock once again, the Troubadours went on to face St. Mary’s High for the Section title two days later.In this season’s postseason tournament, it was the lower half of Turlock’s strength ladder that reigned for the Bulldogs, who were the last remaining CCC team out of three. Turlock beat Modesto 6-3 in the second round and eclipsed West High 5-4 in the quarterfinals after the Bulldogs’ top singles players went down.To contact Chhun Sun, e-mail csun@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2041.
Turlock tennis falls to defending champ
