Ceres High School's varsity girls tennis team beat Patterson and lost to Los Banos during the opening week of Western Athletic Conference play.

"I wasn't sure what to expect," said Bryan Harden, who returned to coach the Bulldogs following a two-year break. "The effort was there. The girls played hard. I know they were nervous."

Ceres High handled Patterson, 7-2, on Sept. 8 in Ceres.

The Bulldogs won four of six singles and all three doubles matches versus the Tigers.

Andria Esho defeated Patterson's Kitzia Gonzalez 6-4, 3-6, 10-4 in No. 2 singles play.

Stephanie Garcia defeated Rebecca Miranda 6-2, 6-2 in No. 3 singles play.

Chelsea Heras defeated Mercedes Perez 6-2, 6-1 in No. 4 singles play.

Alicia Villegas defeated Ciara Perez 7-5, 6-0 in No. 6 singles play.

Azia Brewster and Aleena Ahmed defeated 6-0, 0-6, 6-1 in Lupe Valencia and Eze Ogbuli in No. 2 doubles play.

Shania Evans and Simran Kaur defeated Valentina Delgado and Breanna Hernandez 6-0, 6-3 in No. 2 doubles.

Sarah Cuevas and Bella Rosas defeated Breiseda Bajaras and Jazmyne Grewa 6-2, 6-1 in No. 3 doubles play.

Dominique Koeurn lost 6-0, 7-5 to Catarina Borges in No. 1 singles play.

Jalani Blankenship lost 6-3, 6-4 to Huma Aziz in No. 5 singles play.

Defending WAC-champion Los Banos topped visiting Ceres High 7-2 on Thursday.

"It could have been 6-3," Harden said. "We could have won all three doubles matches. Some of the singles matches were competitive."

The Bulldogs took two of three doubles matches from the Tigers.

Brewster and Ahmed defeated Emma Little and Marian Gomes 6-3, 6-2 in No. 1 doubles play.

Evans and Sabrina Yang defeated Zoe Seabock and Brooklyn Garcia 6-4, 6-2 in No. 2 doubles play.

Brewster, Ahmed, Evans and Yang won despite their lack of experience.

"They're all beginning players," Harden said. "They executed pretty well. They were really aggressive. That's how we play."

Teresa Montes and Ariel Coria lost 6-0, 7-5 to Christina Espana and Haley Ballez in No. 3 doubles play.

Koeurn lost 6-0, 6-0 to Shirley Lui in No. 1 singles play.

Esho lost 6-0, 6-0 to Melanie Silva in No. 2 singles play.

Garcia lost 6-0, 6-1 to Taylor Torongo in No. 3 singles play.

Heras lost 6-2, 7-5 to Audrey Moreno in No. 4 singles play.

Blankenship lost 6-0, 6-0 to Kylee Cardoza in No. 5 singles play.

Villegas lost 6-1, 6-4 to Kiara Azevedo in No. 6 singles play.

"Los Banos has an awesome coach," Harden said. "She played Division-I tennis. Her players are getting good instruction. That makes a big difference. We still have a lot of work to do."

Ceres High, 1-2 overall and 1-1 in WAC play as of Monday, will host El Capitan on Thursday at 3 p.m.