MODESTO — Manteca rebounded well from its first Valley Oak League loss and downed dangerous Central Catholic 7-2 on Tuesday.
The defending champion Buffaloes (6-1 VOL, 8-3 overall) were coming off a tough-to-swallow 6-3 defeat to Kimball which squeaked out three three-set wins.
“Overall, we had a well-played match,” Manteca coach Frank Fontana said. “After the tough loss to Kimball last week I wasn’t sure how we do today, but the guys stepped up and played well even with a short practice yesterday.”
Manteca won two matches that went to third sets Tuesday.
No. 2 singles player Kyle Thornburg came back to beat Central’s Sam Nicholson 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 7-5. Yok Eyh Ma picked up another pivotal point at No. 4 singles, defeating Angelo Traina 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-4. Conor Fenton defeated Manteca freshman Solmon Aniss 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in the No. 1 singles match.
Si Hao Tang (6-3, 6-1), Leonard Gutierrez (6-0, 6-2) and Matt Pabla (6-1, 6-4) also had wins for Manteca. Dhillon Patel and Kevin Lin (6-1, 6-2) were victors at No. 1 doubles, as were No. 2 teammates Kurtis Ma and Cameron Gonzales (6-2, 6-0).
Manteca’s match at Sierra on Thursday has been rescheduled for March 30 at the Manteca Regional Tennis Center.
East Union 6, Sierra 3
Host East Union defeated Sierra (1-6) for the second time in the last week to improve to 5-2 in the VOL.
No. 1 singles player Kyle Niendorf avenged a previous loss to Kyle Banks 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.
Jake Kramer (7-6, [7-4], 1-6, 6-1), Andrew Rossete (6-1, 6-0), Gerardo Romero (6-4, 7-5) and Jose Sanchez (6-1, 6-0) also won to help clinch the match for the Lancers. Cyrus Hunter picked up Sierra’s lone win in singles play, edging Hector Romero 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-4. The Timberwolves also got wins from doubles pairs Mat Len and Tyler Holmes (6-4, 6-2) and Charles Wichert and Amalio Durazo (6-3, 3-6, 6-3).
East Union claimed the third doubles match, with Jeffin Abraham and Tyler Cobb prevailing 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Weston Ranch 5, Lathrop 4
LATHROP — The Cougars (2-6) completed a season sweep of Battle of I-5 rival Lathrop on Tuesday, getting wins from No. 1 singles Kent Balacy (6-3, 6-1), No. 6 singles Steve Cabarrabang (6-0, 6-2) and all three doubles.
The victory was clinched by No. 2 doubles pair Scott Cabarrabang and Raminder Singh, who defeated Nick Licea and Gerard Gerona 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (10-2) in a thriller. Malachi Moore/Brevin Beltran (6-4, 6-1) and Noah Beltran/Phillip Orpillia (6-2, 6-2) also came through with wins.
Singles winners for Lathrop were Navinder Dhindsa (7-6 [7-4], 6-1), Sahib Singh (6-1, 7-6 [8-6]), Chad Hoang (6-4, 7-5), Amritdal Singh (2-6, 6-2, 6-2) and Justin Diza (6-0, 6-2).