Central Valley High School's varsity boys tennis team remained one match behind first-place Ceres High in the Western Athletic Conference standings following last week's sweep of Los Banos and Livingston.

The second-place Hawks improved to 7-2 overall and 7-1 in league.

Central also inched closer to securing its first-ever playoff berth.

The Hawks need to win one of their final three matches to make history.

"The kids are pretty excited," head coach Mike Rodriguez said. "This is the best tennis team we've had here, boys or girls."

Central Valley collected its third straight win on Thursday, beating Los Banos 7-2 in Ceres.

The Hawks took five of six singles and two of three double matches from the Tigers.

Alexis Villa defeated Josh Calucci 6-3, 6-2 in No. 2 singles play.

Edgar Castillo defeated Luke Sanchez 6-2, 6-3 in No. 3 singles play.

Eric Morales defeated Jonas Tuscano 6-3, 6-0 in No. 4 singles play.

Brandyn Weis defeated Jack Gerstenberg 6-3, 6-0 in No. 5 singles play.

Gerardo Rivas defeated Steve Georgiou 6-3, 6-0 in No. 6 singles play.

Ruben Morales and Nimrit Chahal defeated Tyler Cicairos and Darren Baty 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 in No. 1 doubles play.

Jorge Bustos and Oscar Gomez defeated Anthony Flores and Thomas King 6-3, 6-3 in No. 2 doubles play.

Julio Pena and Jesus Cuevas lost 6-2, 6-2 to Max Edinger and Jesse Hernandez in No. 3 doubles play.
Alexis Zigala lost 6-3, 6-1 to JT Barcellos in No. 1 singles play.

Central Valley posted a 7-2 win over host Livingston on Wednesday.

Castillo defeated Sal Cortes 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 in No. 3 singles play.

Morales defeated Homero Servin 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in No. 4 singles play.

Weis defeated Jaime Merino 6-3, 6-1 in No. 5 singles play.

Rivas defeated Kevin Castro 6-3, 6-3 in No. 6 singles play.

Morales and Chahal defeated Emmanuel Jimenez and Diego Jimenez 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in No. 1 doubles play.

Bustos and Gomez defeated Enrique Medina and Angel Ramirez 6-4, 6-0 in No. 2 doubles play.

Cuevas and Navjot Kanda defeated Ernesto Hernandez and Harjot Sidhu 6-2, 6-1 in No. 3 doubles play.

Zigala lost 6-0, 6-3 to Jacob Mercado in No. 1 singles play.

Villa lost 6-1, 6-3 to Alex Mercado in No. 2 singles play.

Central Valley has four matches remaining on its WAC schedule.

"We're pretty close to making playoffs," Rodriguez said. "There's a little more focus. Guys are pushing each other at practice to make each other better."