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Lady Mustangs Tennis Fall To Wolves
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Kendra Branch fell short in three sets against visiting Sierra on the tennis courts Thursday afternoon. Branch stays busy during the fall as she also competes in cross country. DENNIS D. CRUZ/THE LEADER

In the team’s third match of the season, Oakdale’s Lady Mustang tennis players battled to a 5-4 home loss to Sierra on Thursday, Sept. 6. Oakdale struggled in singles matches, as Jessica Garcia defeated Brianna Villabos 6-0, 6-0 for the lone win for Oakdale.

“Jessica Garcia had her best match of the season,” said head coach Judy Vejar. “She played aggressive at the net. I didn’t see her miss very many shots.”

Kendra Branch played a three game set against Nadia Petrovic and came up short. Branch took the first set 6-3, but lost consecutive sets 3-6, 3-6.

“Kendra played a close match, it was a battle. She missed a few shots at the end; that was the difference,” Vejar noted.

Lijian Bacud fell to Kaitilyn Rausa 0-6, 0-6; and McKenzie Brown also lost in straight sets 0-6, 0-6. Senior Shannen Yang continues to struggle this season as she lost 0-6, 3-6.

“Lijian Bacud also had a long match. It was closer than the score reflects; even though she lost she played her best match this year,” said Vejar.

The Oakdale doubles team won all three matches on the day. Paige Morgan and Alyossa Jingco won 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.

“Morgan and Jingco came back to win after trailing earlier. They work together well on the court,” Vejar explained. “They have strong ground stokes, great coverage on the court and put away at the net.”

Also winning for Oakdale were Katelyn Signorelli and Jessica Jericoff (7-5, 6-3). Rounding out the day was Tanna Borba and Savannah Gustafson defeating Gurnoor Guron and Livleen Kaler 6-4, 6-3.

Tuesday, Sept. 11 the girls hosted Central Catholic. The Valley Oak League showdown was held following The Leader’s press time. Thursday, Sept. 13 the girls travel to Manteca to take on the Buffaloes with a scheduled start time of 3:30 p.m. On Tuesday, Sept. 18 Oakdale travels to Stockton to take on Weston Ranch, also with a 3:30 p.m. start time.