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Ceres netters get off to fast start
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Ceres High School's varsity boys tennis team - photo by DALE BUTLER / The Courier

Ceres High School's varsity boys tennis team opened the Western Athletic Conference with back-to-back wins and placed first in the B-division bracket at the California Classic this past week.

"For obvious reasons, I'm excited about the start," head coach Bryan Harden said. "We just got to keep the train going. My biggest thing is keeping the kids interested."

The Bulldogs (10-1, 2-0) won their WAC opener, 8-0, at Central Catholic on Feb. 25.

Ceres High swept all six singles and both doubles matches.

Julio Ochoa defeated Garrett Ardis 6-2, 6-0 in No. 1 singles play.

Alick Liang defeated Daniel Bocks 6-0, 6-1 in No. 2 singles play.

Gurman Bains defeated Justin Chavez 6-1, 6-2 in No. 3 singles play.

Chase Harden defeated Craig Wade 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in No. 4 singles play.

Rene Cortes defeated Conner Garcia 6-3, 6-1 in No. 5 singles play.

Jose Ortega defeated Michael Stewart 6-2, 6-3 in No. 6 singles play.

Trevor Brazil and Sergio Zepeda defeated Brendan Bedolla and Brian Andrews 6-1, 6-0 in No. 1 doubles play.

Manny Jimenez and Shane Kumar defeated Brett Rose and Joseph Minato 6-1, 6-2 in No. 2 doubles play.

Ceres High blanked Livingston 9-0 on Wednesday in Ceres.

Ochoa defeated Jacob Mercado 6-0, 6-0 in No. 1 singles play.

Liang defeated Edgar Mejia 6-0, 6-0 in No. 2 singles play.

Bains defeated Alex Mercado 6-0, 6-1 in No. 3 singles play.

Harden defeated Alejandro Garcia 6-0, 6-0 in No. 4 singles play.

Cortes defeated Jose Valdivia 6-0, 6-0 in No. 5 singles play.

Ortega defeated Jaime Moreno 6-0, 6-0 in No. 6 singles play.

Brazil and Zepeda defeated Juan Montanez and Salvador Cortez 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-0 in No. 1 doubles play.

Jimenez and Kumar defeated Abram Galvan and Homero Serviz 6-1, 6-0 in No. 2 doubles play.

Heath Adrian and Tim Lakomy won by default at No. 3 doubles play.

Ceres High compiled a 4-1 record at the California Classic. 

The 16-team tournament was staged Friday and Saturday in the Clovis/Fresno Area.

"I can't say enough about the way they played," coach Harden said. "They stepped it up. They competed at a high level. Hopefully, we can sustain it."

The Bulldogs beat Central of Fresno 5-1 in the finals.

"I wasn't expecting us to win that match," Bryan Harden said. "They were solid and deep."

Ochoa topped Jared Tajima 6-1, 6-4 in No. 1 singles play.

Liang topped Michael Bee Vang 6-1, 6-0 in No. 2 singles play.

Cortes topped Kyle Kifler 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 in No. 3 singles play.

Harden and Bains topped Daniel Gregg and Christian Mi 6-3, 6-4 in No. 1 doubles play.

Brazil and Zepeda topped Cail Hyatt and Jonathan Wassum 7-5, 6-4 in No. 2 doubles play.

Jimenez and Kumar lost 7-5, 2-6, 10-6 to Abraham Gather and David Tyler in No. 3 doubles play.

Ceres High posted a 6-0 win over Golden West in the semifinals.

Ochoa bested Juan Silva 6-0, 6-1 in No. 1 singles play.

Liang bested Cavy Zamora 6-4, 6-3 in No. 2 singles play.

Cortes bested Matt Duyst 6-1, 6-4 in No. 3 single splay.

Bains and Harden bested Ben Price and Dillon Barnett 6-0, 6-0 in No. 1 doubles play.

Brazil and Zepeda bested Brandon Romer and Billy Torres 6-2, 6-3 in No. 2 doubles play.

Jimenez and Kumar bested Andrew Burgos and William Davila 6-4, 6-0 in No. 3 doubles play.

"Prior to the tournament, we hadn't lost a match as a team," coach Harden said. "You want to be challenged."