Unbeaten in Western Athletic Conference play, Ceres High's and Central Valley's varsity boys tennis teams clashed this past week.

The Bulldogs took over sole possession of first place with an 8-1 victory over the visiting Hawks on Thursday. Four of the matches were decided in three sets.

"This is the most competitive we've been against Ceres High," Central Valley head coach Mike Rodriguez said. "They won the close matches."

"They were everything I expected them to be," Ceres High head coach Bryan Harden said. "It was a good test for us in that there was some adversity. They were taking it to us in the beginning of the match. We're not used to that. We had to step up. I think we underestimated them."

Ceres High improved to 13-0 and 5-0 in the WAC.

Central Valley dropped to 4-3 and 4-1.

"The scores were competitive," Rodriguez said. "They were the better team today. They played well. They're solid all the way through their lineup. They're top three players over the last few years have been lights out."

The Bulldogs won five of six singles and all three doubles matches while battling the upset-minded Hawks.

Nolan McCaig defeated Alexis Villa 6-0, 6-0 in No. 1 singles play.

Chase Harden defeated Edgar Castillo in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in No. 2 singles play.

Rene Cortes defeated Eric Morales 6-3, 6-0 in No. 3 singles play.

Jose Ortega defeated Ruben Morales in three sets, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, in No. 4 singles play.

Bruno de la Torre defeated Brandyn Weis in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, in No. 5 singles play.

Manuel Lozcano lost 6-2, 6-3 to Nimrat Chahal in No. 6 singles play.

Juan Jimenez and Dennis Phommalinh defeated Jorge Bustos and Navjot Kanda in three sets, 1-6, 6-4, 6-0, in No. 1 doubles play.

Jorge Ruiz and Julian Rodriguez defeated Julio Pena and Larry Garcia 6-2, 6-1 in No. 2 doubles play.

Alex Torres and Charles Lo defeated Jesus Cuevas and Roman Ortiz 6-3, 6-4 in No. 3 doubles play.

"I could tell when they were warming up that it was going to be a good match," Harden said.

The Bulldogs have won 34 straight WAC matches dating back to the 2012 season.

Ceres High improved its all-time record versus Central Valley to 17-0.

The Bulldogs are favored to win their fourth consecutive WAC crown.

"We don't talk about the streaks," Rodriguez said. "We treat every match the same. Our goal is to get back to the playoffs. They got other goals other than keeping the streaks alive."