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A one-sided rivalry
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Kaylee Donovan and her Ceres High School varsity girls tennis teammates felt no added pressure during Thursday's Western Athletic Conference showdown with upset-minded Central Valley.

The Bulldogs routed Livingston 8-1 two days earlier and locked up the No. 3 seed for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

"Everybody was more relaxed," said Kaylee Donovan, Ceres High's No. 2 singles player. "We didn't over think things and mess up."

The Bulldogs (8-4) finished third in the WAC standings behind Los Banos (12-0) and Central Catholic (10-2).

The Hawks compiled a 2-10 record (sixth place).

Ceres High upped its all-time record against Central Valley to 12-0.

"We've never lost to them," Donovan said. "We rule this town. I hope the streak's still alive when my kids go here."

"I think we should have had more than two wins this year," said Hawks head coach Mike Rodriguez, whose team lost 5-4 three times. "We had a lot of competitive matches. We weren't blown out."

Ceres High routed Central Valley last week.

The Bulldogs edged out the Hawks 5-4 on Sept. 27

"Give Ceres High credit," Rodriguez said. "They played a lot better this time."

"We focus more on Central Valley because they're our crosstown rivals," Donovan said.

"They're pretty amazing," said Deja Jackson, one of the Hawks' doubles players.

Ceres High swept all six singles matches during the second meeting.

Marifer Ochoa defeated Crystal Guzman 6-1, 6-1 in No. 1 singles play.

Kaylee Donovan defeated Elizabeth Mejia 6-2, 6-0 in No. 2 singles play.

Christin Ornells defeated Julie Avila 6-3, 6-2 in No. 3 singles play.

Karin Kainth defeated Emely Amaya 6-2, 6-1 in No. 4 singles play.

Navneet Grewal defeated Dominique Germann 6-1, 6-1 in No. 5 singles play.

Viridiana Arroyo defeated Karla Delgado 6-3, 6-1 in No. 6 singles play.

The Bulldogs won just one of the three doubles matches.

Manpreet Bahia and Alexis Cummings defeated Veronica Duarte and Alyssa Washburn 6-1, 6-2 in No. 2 doubles play.

Kimmy Ochoa and Lizzy Magana lost 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 to Jackson and Ali Martinez in No. 1 doubles play.

Manmeet Dhami and Navneet Kaur lost 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Marcela Sanchez and Viridiana Gomez in No. 3 doubles play.

Central Valley loses none of its players to graduation.

Ceres High will return nine of its 12 starters, excluding Ornells, Arroyo and Cummings.

When asked if the Hawks would ever beat the Bulldogs, Jackson said: "It's going to take determination and a lot of will power. None of us are seniors so we know what we have to work on."

Added Rodriguez: "We got to get better in the offseason."