Central Valley High School's varsity boys tennis team has experienced a major turnaround since struggling to a 2-10 record in Western Athletic Conference play a year ago.
The Hawks improved to 9-2 overall and 9-1 in WAC after beating host Patterson 6-3 on Thursday in a makeup match rescheduled because of rain.
Second-place Central Valley notched its fifth consecutive victory.
The Hawks increased their lead over third-place Livingston (5-4) in the league standings.
"We're finally seeing some good results," Central Valley head coach Mike Rodriguez said. "They put the work in. I knew this group would have a really good chance at making history. They've been talking about it (going to the playoffs for the first time) the last few matches. Everyone's excited."
The Hawks won all three doubles and three of six singles matches during their battle with the Tigers.
Ruben Morales and Nimrit Chahal defeated Daniel Valverde and Gerardo Ortiz 6-0, 6-0 in No. 1 doubles play.
Jorge Bustos and Navjot Kanda defeated Toby Silva and Eddie Ramirez 6-2, 6-2 in No. 2 doubles play.
Julio Pena and Osvaldo Sanchez defeated Carlos Ortiz and German Ortiz 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in No. 3 doubles play.
Alexis Zigala defeated Francisco Legarde 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) in No. 1 singles play.
Eric Morales defeated Matt Valverde 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 in No. 4 singles play.
Gerardo Rivas defeated Chris Carlson 6-1, 6-1 in No. 6 singles play.
Alexis Villa lost 6-0, 6-1 in No. 1 singles play.
Edgar Castillo lost 6-2, 6-4 to Daniel Cota in No. 3 singles play.
Brandyn Weis lost 7-5, 6-4 to Damarrio Hammonds in No. 5 singles play.
Central Valley secured its first-ever Sac-Joaquin Section playoff berth with an 8-1 win over Pacheco on Wednesday in Los Banos.
Zigala defeated Ismael Orozco 6-3, 6-2 in No. 1 singles play.
Castillo defeated Chris Ballesteros in No. 3 singles play. Castillo led 3-0 in the first set prior to the match being stopped. Ballesteros retired for an unspecified reason.
Morales defeated Danny Espinoza 6-0, 6-0 in No. 4 singles play.
Weis defeated Carlos Bramia 6-1, 6-0 in No. 5 singles play.
Gerardo Rivas defeated Brandon Guzman 7-5, 6-3 in No. 6 singles play.
Ruben Morales and Nimrit Chahal defeated Antonio Martinez-Hipolito and Jose Chavez 6-0, 6-1 in No. 1 doubles play.
Jorge Bustos and Navjot Kanda defeated Orlando Estrada and Jose Lara 6-2, 6-2 in No. 2 doubles play.
Julio Pena and Osvaldo Sanchez defeated Anthony Quijano and Chris Barbara 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) in No. 3 doubles play.
"The guys have been focused all season," Rodriguez said.
Central Valley needs to win its final two matches to claim a share of the WAC title.
The Hawks will play against Ceres High and Central Catholic this week.
The Hawks lost 8-1 to the crosstown Bulldogs on March 18. Central Valley has an all-time record of 0-15 versus Ceres High.
The Hawks beat the Raiders 7-2 on March 21.
