CERES — There were no surprises at the Valley Oak League Singles Tournament Tuesday at Central Valley High.
The top-two seeded players, Ceres standout Luis Ochoa, the defending champion, and Sierra’s Kevin Rausa, will meet in the finals Thursday morning during the doubles tournament.
Third-seeded Satinder Singh made Weston Ranch High history by qualifying for the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II Individual Tournament.
Chris Sanchez of Sonora, after dropping his semifinal match to Luis Ochoa, forfeited the third-place match because of injury.
Singh was knocked into the third-place match by Rausa, losing 1-6, 2-6. But the big hurdle was Ceres’ Wilson Liang, whom he beat, 6-1, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
Rausa also defeated East Union’s Sean Hilscher 8-2 in the quarters in his path to the final round.
Luis Colato placed third for Weston Ranch back in 2007, but only two singles players out of the VOL advanced.
“I couldn’t be any prouder,” Weston Ranch coach Jason Furtado said. “He’s pretty modest about it and is just really happy to be moving on.
“It was a culmination of three years of hard work and determination. Tennis has been his life for three years, and he really deserves it.”
Rausa and Singh were the only area players to get past the quarterfinal round.
Eighth-seeded Alex Barragan of Manteca was upset by East Union’s Ricky Peloso 4-8 in the second round.
Manteca’s Alex McAdams defeated Forest Tolman of Sierra 8-1 to avenge last week’s loss to him in the final VOL dual match of the season. McAdams then dropped a 6-8 decision to Liang.
Marc Leon also made it to the second round, getting past Sierra’s Josh Weiland 8-4 before losing to Sanchez, 6-8.
It’s the first time since 2007 that Manteca, which claimed its third VOL team title in four years but shares the 2010 banner with Ceres, didn’t have a player advance as far as the semifinals.
McAdams and Barragan will join forces again in the doubles tournament. Last season they made an unexpected run to the semifinals, where they met then teammates Yassen Aniss and Arnie Morales. The Aniss-Morales tandem went on to win the VOL championship and take second in the SJS Doubles Tournament.
“I thought we had a solid day,” Manteca coach Frank Fontana said. “The weather conditions were tough with consistent 40 mph winds, but now the guys have the doubles tournament to look forward to on Thursday.”
The VOL Doubles Tournament begins at 9 a.m. Thursday. Manteca begins the SJS Division II team next Tuesday against Solano County Athletic Conference champion Vanden in Fairfield.
The SJS singles and doubles tournaments are on May 13-14 at Johnson Ranch Racquet Club in Roseville.
Ripon Christian 6, Modesto Christian 3
RIPON — Ripon Christian swept the four all-boys matches to maintain its second-place standing in the TVL with a 10-2 record (13-2 overall).
No. 1 singles player Landon Tillema (6-3, 6-2) and No. 2 Jacob Meeuwse (6-4, 6-2) won their matches in straight sets. The Knights’ top doubles team of Josiah Neeley and Nick Wehrli coasted to a 10-0 win. Brad Kamper and Dan McGill won, 10-6.
The rest of the points came from girls doubles. Katie dun Dulk and Amanda Thatcher prevailed 10-1, while Denise Dole and Victoria Vallo were just as effective in their 10-2 victory.
— Jonamar Jacinto