EAST UNION
2011: N/A
Coaches: Rick Mitchell.
Notable returners (grade): Rebekah Jacobson (12th), Brooke Niendorf (11th).
Outlook: Mitchell takes over coaching duties with Julia Bylow now at Weston Ranch, the two-time defending VOL champion. The Lancers also lost four-year seniors Ashley Duenas and Klassey Kachalkin, who combined for the league’s doubles title last year, to graduation. Mitchell looks to build around Jacobson and Niendorf with athletic, though unproven, underclassmen.
MANTECA
2011: 11-3 VOL (second place). Lost to Oakmont in first round of SJS Division II Team Tourney.
Coaches: Mary Ann Tolbert (head), Frank Fontana (assistant).
Notable returners (grade): Wendy Lin (12th), Rosa Zou (12th), Adaeze (Nkwocha (12th), Noha Elabed (12th), Weley Lin (12th), Jenny Yu (12th), Liz Diaz (11th), Julia Saling (10th) Sealy McAdams (10th), Fechi Nkwocha (10th).
Notable newcomers (grade): Ashlee Miller, Katie Inderbitzin, Alondra Avila, Elizabeth Tolbert.
Outlook: The Buffaloes have some major momentum built up after ending a 20-plus-year playoff drought and ruining Weston Ranch’s bid for a second straight perfect finish in league. They lost just three starters to graduation, so depth and experience are on their side. Manteca may lack a true standout, but all-VOL first-team selections Wendy Lin and Zou were among the many Lady Buffs committed to the team’s summer program.
SIERRA
2011: 8-6 VOL (fourth place).
Coaches: Vanessa Weeks.
Notable returners (grade): Vannida Nguyen (12th), Imahni Burks (12th), Anna Cardenas (11th), Naomi Nunis (11th), Maddie Banks (12th), Annie Banks, Rosie Reynolds.
Outlook: With five of six singles players and their No.1 doubles team all returning, the Timberwolves are a threat to garner one of three VOL berths to the SJS Division II Team Tournament. The 2011 season was supposed to be a rebuilding project for then-first-year SHS coach Weeks, but Sierra finished a respectable 8-6 after a 1-4 start. Nguyen is the early favorite for the VOL singles title.
— Jonamar Jacinto
Sierra High’s Vannida Nguyen is using past experiences as both motivation and valuable lessons to learn from for the 2012 girls tennis season.
In the 2010 Valley Oak League Singles Tournament finals, she lost to then-Kimball High ace Pyper Brown decisively, 6-0, 6-1. Brown, an Ohio transplant who relocated to Southern California following her sophomore year at Kimball, was supposed to win.
“My sophomore year I felt privileged to have (faced) Pyper,” Nguyen said. “It definitely put things in perspective. I knew I needed to work harder because there are definitely better players out there.
“Winning league wasn’t my main concern, but getting to (the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II Tournament) was. Getting to see that kind of play in person was good experience.”
The 2011 season was set up to be the start of a dominant two-year run for Nguyen. She was arguably the top returning singles player in the VOL, but she was thwarted by one of the top returning doubles players.
Weston Ranch’s Ly Hoang split two regular-season matches with Nguyen before downing her 6-2, 6-4 in the league finale. Nguyen was more experienced and the bigger hitter, but she was flustered by Hoang’s patient and slow-paced defensive tactics along with deceptive athletic ability.
“More than anything she really challenged my mental strength,” Nguyen said. “I had never played someone like her, so it was a really good test.”
With Hoang graduating last spring, Nguyen is once again the early favorite to earn the VOL singles title. This time, she feels better prepared.
After running on the school’s track team to stay in shape, she competed in a summer league with Melfort Tennis Academy. Her coaches, Ed Melfort and Frank Fontana of Manteca High, urge her to play more aggressively, while Sierra coach Vanessa Weeks preaches consistency.
“It’s a good combination to have,” Nguyen said. “It’s a combination I need.”
Weeks, who enters her second season as Sierra’s coach, said she is a more complete player.
“She is hitting the ball more thoughtfully as far as hitting where she wants to hit it instead of just playing out the points,” Weeks said. “We’ve been working a lot on strategy.”
Individual glory isn’t all Nguyen is after. Two years ago, Sierra qualified for the SJS Team Tournament and she hopes to lead the Timberwolves there again.
“A lot of the girls that we have returning have the basics down, so we’re ahead of a lot of the teams that graduated a lot of players.”
