The Sierra girls tennis team ended rival Manteca’s Valley Oak League winning streak at 58 on Tuesday, decisively winning the regular-season opener at home, 7-2.
There are few holdovers from the 2019 teams that claimed Sac-Joaquin Section championships — Manteca earned its third Division III title in four years, while Sierra captured the D-IV crown — but it’s still a step toward the Timberwolves’ goal of making a return to the postseason.
“I’m very proud because most of them barely picked up a racquet in the past few months,” Sierra assistant coach Mathew Len said. “I’m excited to see how much they’ve grown and how much they’re going to grow as they continue to play tennis.”
Manteca junior Katie Kim, the league’s top returning player, defeated Caitlin Morrow, 6-1, 6-1. The Buffs also took the No. 2 singles match with Emma Ngo topping Victoria Zellner, 6-0, 6-1.
The rest of the match belonged to Sierra. The No. 4 matchup was the only one to be decided in a third set, as Brisa Gonzales outlasted Jenna Poncini, 4-6, 6-2, 10-4. Tanya Sharma defeated Christian Nguyen at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-3. Sidney Pham (6-2, 6-1) and Maryn Peterson (6-1, 6-1) won at No. 5 and 6 singles for the T-wolves.
Sierra had its way in the doubles matches. The top tandem of Amber Garza and Simran Dosanjh won, 6-0, 6-1. Grace Langenfeld and Navleen Dosanjh swept, 6-1, 6-1. Alessia Mauetti and Dea Anxhaku held on for a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Lathrop 8, Ceres 1
Hard-fought individual wins helped turn a competitive match into blowout in favor of the Spartans in this Western Athletic Conference showdown.
Three matches went to third sets, two claimed by Lathrop. Godwina Ogbeide squeaked out a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 win over Gurmannet Bahza in No. 1 singles, while Ruby Chavez fended off Valerie Raya, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2.
Ceres got its lone point from Melissa Villegas from the No. 6 singles spot, as she edged out Suhani Banwait, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 12-9. In another tightly-contested match, Lathrop’s No. 3 doubles team of Kiele Matus and Taimane Lowery vanquished Jasmeen Kaur and Lilia Barragam, 7-5, 5-7 (4).
Other winners for Lathrop were Madilynn Romero (6-4, 6-0), Isabel Paniagua (6-1, 6-1), Justice Pacheco Seward (6-2, 6-0, Janelle Lat/Keziah Boateng (6-4, 6-4) and Marintia Mejia/Rachel Boateng (6-1, 6-3).
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Manteca 3, Central Catholic 0
The Buffaloes (2-0 VOL, 10-0 overall) took advantage of a depleted Raiders team, rolling past the reigning VOL and SJS Division III champion at Winter Gym, 25-19, 25-17, 25-15. Central Catholic was minus senior standout Abby Castillon, who is out with an injury.
Camrenne Genilla spearheaded Manteca’s attack with 13 kills, while Adrianna Powell and Karlie Spohn added nine each. Powell also racked up 16 digs, 16 service points and three aces, while Spohn netted six blocks.
Abby Kadillak led the defensive effort with 18 digs. Isabella Pires contributed 11 digs and 10 service points. Arielle Chandler turned in 29 assists, three kills and five digs.
Junior varsity
Central Catholic 2, Manteca 1
Manteca came up short in a well-contested match, 25-19, 22-25, 12-15.
Carsyn Van Zant connected for six kills, Danielle Grabowski had five and Sophia Nussbaumer rapped three. Rylee Newquist anchored the front-row defense with three blocks.
Freshman
Central Catholic 2, Manteca 0
The Raiders escaped Winter Gym with a 27-25, 25-20 win.
Amil Gaskin led Manteca with three kills and four blocks. Jayana Dias served five aces. Nicole Ayala keyed the defensive back row while also coming up with three aces.
