Central Valley High School varsity boys tennis singles players Alexis Villa and Alexis Zigala both had unfavorable draws at the Western Athletic Conference Championships on Wednesday at Pacheco High School.
Villa and Zigala faced off against Julio Ochoa and Alick Liang, respectively, in the opening round.
Ochoa and Liang, Ceres High standouts, had a combined record of 21-0 entering the tournament.
"Unfortunately for us, we always seem to draw the top guys," Hawks head coach Mike Rodriguez said. "I told the kids to play hard and make every point as competitive as possible. They had nothing to lose. It was a good experience."
Villa lost 6-0, 6-0 to Ochoa.
Julio won his second straight WAC singles title.
Villa, a sophomore, compiled a 3-10 record this year.
Zigala lost 6-0, 6-1 to Liang.
Alick advanced to the semifinals.
Zigala, a junior, posted a 2-11 record on the season.
"They got to see what level they need to get to," Rodriguez said.
WAC doubles recap
Zigala and senior Alex Hernandez won one of two matches while competing at the WAC doubles tourney on Friday in Los Banos.
Zigala and Hernandez defeated Patterson's Francisco Legarde and John Brouse 6-1, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1 in the first round.
Alexis and Alex lost 6-0, 6-1 to Central Catholic's Justin Chavez and Garrett Ardis in the quarterfinals.
Legarde and Brouse lost 7-5, 6-2 to Ceres High's Alick Liang and Gurman Bains in the finals.
Villa and sophomore Edgar Castillo lost 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 to Patterson's John Minton and Dylan Halland.
Hawks place sixth
Central Valley closed out the WAC regular season with back-to-back losses the week of April 15-19.
The Hawks placed sixth in the WAC standings (2-10).
"We definitely improved over the year," Rodriguez said. "Obviously, we would have liked to have more wins."
Central Catholic defeated Central Valley 7-2 on April 17 in Ceres.
"It could have easily been 5-4," Rodriguez said. "We lost 9-0 the first time against them."
The Hawks dropped five of six singles and two of three doubles matches.
Castillo, and Jorge Bustos and Carlos Salazar prevented the shutout.
Castillo beat Connor Garcia 6-2, 6-2 in No. 4 singles play.
Bustos and Salazar beat Michael Stewart and John Forester 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in No. 3 doubles play.
Zigala lost 6-1, 6-1 to Garrett Ardis in No. 1 singles play.
Hernandez lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Daniel Bocks in No. 2 singles play.
Villa lost 6-0, 6-0 to Justin Chavez in No. 3 singles play.
Brandyn Weis lost 6-2, 6-4 to Chris Huber in No. 5 singles play.
Oscar Ornales lost 6-1, 6-2 to Brendan Bedolla in No. 6 singles play.
Wing Chang and Nimrat Chahal lost 6-1, 6-2 to John Stockman and Brian Andrews in No. 1 doubles play.
Gerardo Rivas and Eric Morales lost 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to Joseph Minato and Juston Forte in No. 2 doubles play.
First-place Ceres High improved its all-time record against visiting Central Valley to 14-0 with a 9-0 victory on April 15.
"They're at another level compared to the other teams right now," Rodriguez said. "We want to be there in a year or two."
The Bulldogs swept all six singles and three doubles matches.
Zigala lost 6-0, 6-0 to Julio Ochoa in No. 1 singles play.
Villa lost 6-0, 6-0 to Alick Liang in No. 2 singles play.
Castillo lost 6-0, 6-0 to Gurman Bains in No. 3 singles play.
Weis lost 6-0, 6-2 to Chase Harden in No. 4 singles play.
Ornales lost 6-2, 6-3 to Rene Cortes in No. 5 singles play.
Chang lost 6-0, 6-0 to Jordan Mey in No. 6 singles play.
Rivas and Chahal lost 6-1, 6-4 to Trevor Brazil and Juan Jimenez in No. 1 doubles play.
Bustos and Morales lost 6-3, 6-0 to Tim Lakomy and David Cisneros in No. 2 doubles play.
Salazar and Alex Torres lost 6-1, 6-3 to Heath Adrian and Dennis Phommalinh in No. 3 doubles play.
Central Valley will lose just one player to graduation-Alex Hernandez.
"We're young," Rodriguez said. "We'll get better. We were very competitive this year. There's some hope there. We have a solid group coming back. We have the potential to be a playoff team."
