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Hawks lose 5-4 to Gauchos, drop to second place in CCC
daniela Yepez
Central Valley’s Daniela Yepez (pictured) and Virginia Moore defeated Buhach Colony’s Viviana Valencia and Kirsten Engel 6-2, 6-0 in No. 1 doubles play on Sept. 25 in Ceres. - photo by Dale Butler

Central Valley’s and El Capitan’s varsity girls tennis teams had identical 7-1 records heading into last week’s Central California Conference showdown.

The host Gauchos edged out the Hawks 5-4 and took over sole possession of first place on Thursday.


“Obviously, the girls are very disappointed. They knew what was on the line. Hopefully, this will light a fire under them.”
Coach Mike Rodriguez

“Obviously, the girls are very disappointed,” Central Valley coach Mike Rodriguez said. “They knew what was on the line. Hopefully, this will light a fire under them.”

The Hawks (7-2) dropped to second place in the CCC standings.

El Capitan (8-1) beat Central Valley for the second time this season.

The Gauchos won the first meeting, 6-3, on Sept. 4.

“We’re still in a good spot,” Rodriguez said. “We’re one game back. We have to win out and get help from Golden Valley and Merced to at least tie for first. We can still make playoffs.”

Sunaina Dhillon defeated Anna Gueorguieva 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 in No. 3 singles play.

Mixtly Vega defeated Karen Godinez 7-5, 6-2 in No. 4 singles play.

Bandha Bhatti defeated Serrena Malhi 7-6, 6-3 in No. 6 singles play.

Daniela Yepez and Virginia Moore defeated Megan Bowser and Casandra Macalincag 6-4, 6-2 in No. 1 doubles play.

Lupe Becerra lost 6-0, 6-0 to Jenasis Yarrell in No. 1 singles play.

Gianna Arce lost 6-0, 6-1 to Riddhi Parikh in No. 2 singles play.

Elisabeth Valdez lost 6-4, 6-4 to Paula Almeda in No. 5 singles play.

Christina Hermenegildo and Lizbeth Martinez lost 6-4, 6-2 to Lauren Leonardo and Kayla Ochoa in No. 2 doubles play.

Sabina Dhillon and Priscilla Chavez lost 6-3, 6-2 to Italia Valenzuela and Alyssa Molina in No. 3 doubles play.

“We were confident going in,” Rodriguez said. “It was a close match. It could have gone either way.”

Central Valley bested Buhach Colony 8-1 on Sept. 25 in Ceres.

Arce defeated Kaia Newsam 6-0, 6-3 in No. 2 singles play.

Sunaina Dhillon defeated Ariel Acevedo 6-1, 6-0 in No. 3 singles play.

Vega defeated Sarah Barragan 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 in No. 4 singles play.

Valdez defeated Vanessa Hicks 6-3, 6-0 in No. 5 singles play.

Bhatti defeated Priscilla Bridges 6-3, 6-1 in No. 6 singles play.

Yepez and Moore defeated Viviana Valencia and Kirsten Engel 6-2, 6-0 in No. 1 doubles play.

Hermenegildo and Martinez defeated Stephanie Ramos and Kassandra Sarmiento 6-2, 6-1 in No. 2 doubles play.

Sanchez and Sabina Dhillon defeated Caroline Lau and Julia Jones 5-5 (retired) in No. 3 doubles play.

The Hawks’ league title and playoff hopes haven’t been dashed just yet.

“There are still five matches to go,” Rodriguez said. “A lot can change.”