ONLINE EXCLUSIVE -- The pressure of a spotless league record and talented foe did little to batter the confidence of Mustang racketeers on Tuesday as the Oakdale High girls tennis team posted an impressive 5-4 victory over East Union.
Oakdale’s prolific doubles tandems won all three matches and saw two singles victories in a narrow win to keep their stranglehold of the Valley Oak League lead.
Corin Hernandez and Katie Odom defeated Dianna Suber and Mackenzie Evertt of East Union in 6-4 6-1 scores to kick off the doubles dominance. Oakdale’s Carly Rogers and Taylor Davis topped Amanda Dart and Maddie Romero 6-4, 6-3 while Francesca Orvis and Nicole Dickens upended Amanda Jane Lopez and Luz Aguirre in a tight 6-3, 7-6 bout.
Nicole Armstrong came back strong to top Klasey Kachalkin in 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 scores for the Oakdale singles group. Laurie Baxter worked past Nikki Reichmuth 6-3, 6-0 as well.
Christine Kim, Lindsay Dunn and Emily Johnson lost hard-fought singles matches for the Mustangs.
Oakdale (5-0) put their undefeated record on the line against Kimball on Thursday. The results of the that match will appear in the Sept. 28 print edition of The Leader.
Volleyball
Oakdale blasted past Sierra with a bang for their VOL opener on Sept. 20. The Mustangs took 25-11,25-11, 25-18 scores in an easy sweep.
McKenzie Willet sent home eight kills and five points. Domi Powell added six kills, 12 points and seven digs. Justina Keith chipped in seven kills, three points and 10 digs in the win. Kellie Gratigny (24 assists), Brittany Salas (10 digs) and Kaitlyn Van Ryn (10 points) also played well.
Golf
Oakdale freshman Mabel Wong won her seventh consecutive medalist honors, but Mustang teammates couldn’t match several low East Union scores in a 241-254 Lancer victory on Tuesday at the Manteca Parks Golf Course.
East Union (5-1) dropped a match to Sonora earlier in the year, but shares the league lead with an Oakdale team (6-1) that upended Sonora.
Wong shot a 40 on the par-37 front nine to nab the best score. Michelle Desrochers (50), Dylanie Donahue (53), Nicole Stastny (54), Kimberly Russell (57) and Rebecca Cone (61) added scores, but couldn’t stay even with four Lancer scores under 50.
Soccer
Oakdale tied Lathrop in a 2-2 battle on Sept. 19, but fell 4-1 to East Union on Wednesday to drop to 0-3-1 in the VOL.
Gustavo Ruiz and Javier Aguiniga scored on assists from Jose Rodriguez and Oskar Nilsson against Lathrop. Scotty McNeil made five saves. McNeil added six saves during the loss to East Union. Davis Harper had the lone score.
Water Polo
The Oakdale varsity boys landed a 17-0 shutout of Pacheco after multiple scores from six different Mustang players. Brandon Terwilliger scored four, while Ben Kirby, Jeremy Neathery and Neal Cadra added three. Braden Lee and Casey Whitley each chipped in two.
