Manteca High’s boys tennis team was eliminated by Rocklin 6-3 in the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II Team Tennis Tournament Tuesday.
Rocklin, the third-place team out of the powerhouse Sierra Foothill League, advances to the quarterfinal round and will face Bella Vista or Bethel next Monday.
Frank Fontana, coach of Manteca’s Valley Oak League championship squad, said he wouldn’t be surprised if the SFL, led by top-seeded Del Oro, makes up three out of the four semifinalists.
“The SFL is the best league in the section, so to have to face them in the second round was a tough draw,” said Fontana, whose team was awarded a first-round bye. “I think one of our issues is that we’re just not used to being in competitive matches like they are. They’re used to seeing a higher quality of competition.”
That was apparent at No. 1 and 2 singles.
Manteca’s Oral Nunis, the VOL singles champion, was dealt a 1-6, 1-6 loss by Chris Hartman. Michael Lopez, the VOL runner-up, also lost in straight sets, 2-6, 2-6 against Lucas Hauptman.
Manteca picked up two big points at 3 and 4 singles, where underclassmen Jacob Webb (6-1, 6-4) and Yok-Jing Ma (6-1, 6-2) — doubles teammates for Thursday’s individual tournament in Rocklin — won handily.
“Jacob played a great match, and Yok beat a guy who had one loss all year, and they both made it look routine,” Fontana said. “If someone told me that we’d win at 3 and 4 I would have said we’d win the match. It just didn’t go our way today.”
The swing matches ended up being at the bottom of the singles ladder.
Chris Kloska lost a tough 4-6, 4-6 decision to Hunter Snider, at No. 6 Jorge Sierra dropped a 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 heartbreaker to Ravi Sharma. Sierra held 4-3 leads in both of the final two sets.
Alex Vazquez and Sam Dhaliwal did their part in the No. 1 doubles contest. The Buffalo tandem toughed out a 7-6, 7-6 victory over Michael Yadon and Brandon Yates.
Manteca could have won either of the other doubles matches. Thomas Reza and Izham Reger were down 4-6, 4-6; and Punnet Sandhu and Angel Tejada fell, 3-6, 3-6.
Del Oro 8, Weston Ranch 1
In Loomis, Sukhman Singh accounted for Weston Ranch’s lone point in their final team match of the season, He defeated Del Oro’s Gabriel Ezcurra, 6-2, 6-2.
The rest of the Cougars were swept.
“I believed that my singles came out a little timid and stiff today,” Weston Ranch coach Jason Furtado said. “They were pressing a bit and never really got comfortable out there. It was definitely an experience that helped us improve as a team, and we’re excited about getting back to work as soon as possible to get ready for the next time we have that kind of opportunity.
“Overall, we had a great season, and I’m happy to have gotten to the second round of the playoffs.”
