Central Valley High School's new-look varsity girls tennis team is no longer winless.
The Hawks improved to 1-2 in the Western Athletic Conference following their hard-fought 5-4 victory over Livingston on Tuesday, Sept. 17 in Ceres.
"Even though we're rebuilding, we're still competitive," Central Valley head coach Mike Rodriguez said. "We need to continue to get better."
Emely Amaya, a third-year player with the Hawks, accounted for the match-clinching point.
Amaya defeated Livingston's Marbella Mascorro in a three-set tiebreaker, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1), in No. 1 singles play.
"I don't think she felt any pressure," Rodriguez said. "She's played in plenty of these matches before. It's nothing new to her."
Emely regrouped after dropping the opening set and squandering a 3-0 lead in the decisive set.
"She struggled in the first set because of the wind," Rodriguez said. "She was frustrated. Once it died down, she found her groove. Being a competitor, she was able to finish it off when she needed to. Sometimes you got to win ugly. Credit to the Livingston girl. She dictated the pace of the match. It was real slow."
The Hawks won four of six singles and one of three doubles matches versus the Wolves.
Jadah Jackson defeated Taranpreet Kaur 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in No. 3 singles play.
Ali Martinez defeated Maggie Mendoza 6-0, 6-0 in No. 4 singles play.
Sandra Luna defeated Maria Vera 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in No. 5 singles play.
Claudia Martinez and Celeste Lepe defeated Avneet Uppal and Elisa Armenta 6-2, 6-3 in No. 1 doubles play.
Naomi Torres lost 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2 to Jasdeep Bassi in No. 2 singles play.
Teresa Diaz lost 6-3, 6-1 to Karina Ramos in No. 6 singles play.
Samantha Sotomayor and Princess Pe lost 6-4, 6-3 to Jennia Garcia and Genesis Benitez in No. 2 doubles play.
Chelsea Flores and Vanessa Monroy lost 1-6, 6-1, 10-6 to Cynthia Frias and Claudia Esquivel in No. 3 doubles play.
Central Valley will play host to crosstown-rival Ceres High this Thursday at 3 p.m.
The Hawks have an all-time record of 0-14 versus the Bulldogs.
