Reigning Valley Oak League doubles champion Katie Kim is looking to add a singles crown to her résumé.
The Manteca junior gets her chance Thursday when she faces off with Central Catholic’s Katherine Juarez in the VOL Tournament singles final starting around 11 a.m. at Manteca Regional Tennis Center. The doubles tournament will take plays simultaneously.
Kim won the doubles championship her freshman year with Sahiba Kaur, and the tandem went on to take second in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II Individual Tournament. She and Juarez both qualify for the Section tourney as singles players.
They each won three matches Tuesday to reach the final. Seeded No. 1, Kim was awarded a first-round bye and began her perfect day with an 8-0 win over Weston Ranch’s Ella Nykanen. Then she blanked Oakdale’s Riley Jones and Tanya Sharma of Sierra, 6-0, 6-0.
Manteca’s Emma Ngo also made the semifinals, doing so as the No. 6 seed with wins over East Union’s Alayna Bottoms and No. 3 Mianna Robinson of Central Catholic. Ngo defeated Sharma 6-2, 6-2 in the third-place match.
The unseeded Sharma was the only semifinalist to not get a first-round bye. She started with an 8-0 shutout of Kimball’s Madison Bowles before dispatching No. 5 Moe Kagiyama, 8-3. She faced teammate Caitlyn Morrow, the No. 4 seed in the quarters and won 6-4, 6-4.
GIRLS WATER POLO
Ripon 13, Sierra 0
Ripon staked claim to a second straight outright title in the VOL at Ervin Zador Aquatic Center.
Twin sisters Delaney and Kennedy Brubaker along with Taylor Blair were honored on senior night. Delaney, who had 11 saves and two assists while in goal, tallied her first shutout. She got to play the field in the final period and scored two goals. Reserve goalie Isabella Miller racked up five saves.
Kennedy Brubaker netted the first three goals of the game and finished with four on five total shot attempts. She also had three assists and three steals. Blair contributed two goals, two assists and four steals.
Mia Sickler Lopez chipped in two goals, while Tiffani Hunter, Valerie Chun and Maddie Stewart each had one.
BOYS WATER POLO
Ripon 24, Sierra 9
The Indians are a win away from a likely split of the VOL championship after routing Sierra. Their regular-season finale is Thursday at Kimball.
Donovan Armstrong, the team’s lone senior, finished with three goals and two assists in his final VOL home game. McKeane Beier converted six of his nine shot attempts. Owen Curtis chimed in with five goals.
Ben Svoboda registered four goals, three assists and five steals. Nathan Selna (three goals, four assists), Brody Biederman (goal, two assists), Teo West (goal, six assists, four steals), Ryan Bell (three assists, three saves) Cheelan Harvey (goal)nd Ben Rodgers (nine saves) were other contributors.
ESPORTS
Sierra 30, Ranch San Juan 19
The Timberwolves earned their first-ever win in League of Legends.
Calvin Radagio led Sierra with 15 kills, and Konnor Spears followed with 10. Matthew Azevedo paced the team in assists. Joshua Luong and Elvira Valtierra split the rest of the kills.
