ROSEVILLE — Sahiba Kaur and Katie Kim made school history Friday at Johnson Ranch Racquet Club.
The Manteca High tandem became the first Buffaloes to reach the final round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II Doubles Tournament, losing 4-6, 2-6 to twin sisters Faustina and Flora Wan of Armijo in the championship.
Sierra’s Kaitlyn Rausa also competed Friday but dropped her semifinal match to eventual champion Jasjot Sandhu, 2-6, 4-6.
“The girls played well and we are pleased continue to improve,” Manteca coach MaryAnn Tolbert said. “Now our focus is on Tuesday.”
The season is not over yet for both Manteca and Sierra, which vie for SJS team titles on Tuesday. The top-seeded Buffaloes are going after their third Division III banner in four years against Vanden at Oak Park Tennis Center in Stockton, while Sierra takes on Valley Oak League rival Central Catholic at Modesto Junior College for the Division IV crown.
Kim and Kaur were the second-seeded duo for the doubles competition and won their first two matches handily on Thursday. They returned Friday and knocked off Vacaville’s Maya Homan and Maya Gentry, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
The Buffaloes started strong against the No. 1-seeded Wan siblings, who were the runners-up last year. They had a chance to take a 4-1 lead in the opening set but lost a deuce point. The Wans took over from there.
It was the second straight trip to the section tournament for Kaur, a semifinalist with then-partner Julia Tang. While Kaur and Kim own the distinction of going further than all previous Manteca doubles teams, the school does have finalists in singles play — Ranata Scholl and Lynn Henderson earned titles in 1982 and 1983, respectively, while Katie Gaynor was the 1987 runner-up.
Rausa came up short of making history for Sierra, but the senior enjoyed her best run among four section appearances. The two-time VOL champion cruised to two easy wins Thursday but ran into the top-seeded Sandhu of Mira Loma on Friday. Sandhu held off Ponderosa’s Kaira Bernaldez in the final, 7-6, 6-2.
BOYS WATER POLO
Sonora 11, Ripon 5
SONORA — The sixth-seeded Indians ran into trouble Friday as the No. 3 Wildcats had the upper hand in opening-round action of the SJS Division III playoffs.
“We’re just young and we need to gain experience,” Ripon coach Erik Zador said. We are good in our league but once we get against the bigger and more established schools it can be tough going. We try hard and hustle but we are just out-manned and have less experience.
“Since we started in 2012 we have made the playoffs every year. That is an accomplishment for a small school. The boys enjoyed it and want to come back next year.”
Maika West led the Indians (9-11) with three goals. Kaleb Hinrichsen and Hunter Medeiros each added one goal. Matthew De La O was kept busy in the net and posted 15 saves.
