Ceres High junior Marifer Ochoa and Los Banos senior Alexis Barcellos faced off in the finals of the Western Athletic Conference varsity girls tennis singles tournament for the third year in a row.
Barcellos, the top seed, defended her title with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over No. 2 Ochoa on Thursday at Pacheco High School.
Alexis upped her all-time record versus Marifer to 3-6. She's won the last four meetings.
Ochoa lost 6-2, 6-3 to Barcellos at the WAC year-end tourney in 2011.
Marifer edged Alexis via tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4), at the league championships her freshman year.
"You got to give it up to Alexis," Ceres High head coach Bryan Harden said. "She's mentally tough."
Ochoa squandered a 5-2 lead in the opening set during last week's showdown. Marifer was hurt by unforced errors and poor serving.
She fell behind 5-1 in the second set. Ochoa cut the deficit to 5-4 before double faulting to end the match.
"The toughest thing to do in tennis is close a set out," Harden said. "It's all mental. Marifer just didn't get it done. For the most part, she played really well."
Ochoa collected wins against Los Banos' Christina Soares (7-6, 6-3), Livingston's Kimberly Lopez (6-1, 6-0) and Pacheco's Jacqueline Carranza (6-0, 6-0) at the WAC Championships.
Bulldog teammate Kaylee Donovan lost 6-4, 6-1 to fourth-seeded Payton Kelley (Central Catholic.
"It was a dogfight the first set," Harden said. "She played really well."
Ceres High's Kim Ochoa and Lizzy Magana lost 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) to Patterson's Chanda Noynola and Kelby Norfleet.
Noynola and Norfleet staved off two set points in the tiebreaker.
"They played well enough to win the second set," Harden said. "They just made some mistakes."
Karin Kainth and Manpreet Bahia lost 6-0, 6-3 to Patteron's Nsimba and Kendal Norfleet.
Central Valley High School's Jasmine Martinez compiled a 1-1 record on her way to top-eight finish at the WAC singles tournament last week in Los Banos.
Martinez beat Patterson's Kelby Norfleet 7-5, 1-6, 10-1 in the first round.
She lost 6-2, 6-0 to Barcellos in the quarterfinals.
Hawk Julie Avila lost 6-1, 6-1 to third-seeded Christina Soares (Los Banos).
Central Valley's Deja Jackson and Ali Martinez won one of their two matches at the WAC doubles tournament.
Jackson and Martinez beat Pacheco's Bianey Gaxiola and Jocelyn Reyes 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round.
Deja and Ali lost 6-4, 6-1 to Los Banos' Elena Erreca and Monique Arretche in the quarterfinals.
Elizabeth Mejia and Crystal Guzman lost 6-4, 6-2 to Los Banos' Tiffany Liu and Jacquelin Arretche.
Barcellos, the top seed, defended her title with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over No. 2 Ochoa on Thursday at Pacheco High School.
Alexis upped her all-time record versus Marifer to 3-6. She's won the last four meetings.
Ochoa lost 6-2, 6-3 to Barcellos at the WAC year-end tourney in 2011.
Marifer edged Alexis via tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4), at the league championships her freshman year.
"You got to give it up to Alexis," Ceres High head coach Bryan Harden said. "She's mentally tough."
Ochoa squandered a 5-2 lead in the opening set during last week's showdown. Marifer was hurt by unforced errors and poor serving.
She fell behind 5-1 in the second set. Ochoa cut the deficit to 5-4 before double faulting to end the match.
"The toughest thing to do in tennis is close a set out," Harden said. "It's all mental. Marifer just didn't get it done. For the most part, she played really well."
Ochoa collected wins against Los Banos' Christina Soares (7-6, 6-3), Livingston's Kimberly Lopez (6-1, 6-0) and Pacheco's Jacqueline Carranza (6-0, 6-0) at the WAC Championships.
Bulldog teammate Kaylee Donovan lost 6-4, 6-1 to fourth-seeded Payton Kelley (Central Catholic.
"It was a dogfight the first set," Harden said. "She played really well."
Ceres High's Kim Ochoa and Lizzy Magana lost 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) to Patterson's Chanda Noynola and Kelby Norfleet.
Noynola and Norfleet staved off two set points in the tiebreaker.
"They played well enough to win the second set," Harden said. "They just made some mistakes."
Karin Kainth and Manpreet Bahia lost 6-0, 6-3 to Patteron's Nsimba and Kendal Norfleet.
Central Valley High School's Jasmine Martinez compiled a 1-1 record on her way to top-eight finish at the WAC singles tournament last week in Los Banos.
Martinez beat Patterson's Kelby Norfleet 7-5, 1-6, 10-1 in the first round.
She lost 6-2, 6-0 to Barcellos in the quarterfinals.
Hawk Julie Avila lost 6-1, 6-1 to third-seeded Christina Soares (Los Banos).
Central Valley's Deja Jackson and Ali Martinez won one of their two matches at the WAC doubles tournament.
Jackson and Martinez beat Pacheco's Bianey Gaxiola and Jocelyn Reyes 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round.
Deja and Ali lost 6-4, 6-1 to Los Banos' Elena Erreca and Monique Arretche in the quarterfinals.
Elizabeth Mejia and Crystal Guzman lost 6-4, 6-2 to Los Banos' Tiffany Liu and Jacquelin Arretche.
