Beyer’s Jacques repeats as MMC girls tennis champion

Beyer High tennis coach Mark Gonzales is getting married next weekend and his star player, junior Symone Jacques, has yet pick out a wedding gift.

Here’s a suggestion: A Sac-Joaquin Section Division I girls singles championship.

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” said Jacques, who wrapped her second consecutive Modesto Metro Conference championship with a 6-0, 6-1 win over freshman teammate Carmen Fahlen on Wednesday at Modesto JC. “That would be kind of nice.”

Because of the impending nuptials, Gonzales will be unable to attend the section singles tournament, scheduled for Nov. 6-7 at Johnson Ranch Racquet Club in Roseville, but both Jacques and Fahlen will be making the trip, along with Patriots assistant coach Scott Lucas.

“They played great today and I’m really proud of both of them,” Gonzales said.

Jacques, The Bee’s two-time reigning Player of the Year, breezed through the first match unscathed but was broken in the first game of the second set. That would be the lone bright spot for Fahlen, who admitted to being a bit outside of her comfort zone.

“It was kind of intimidating,” said Fahlen, who, like Jacques, posted a perfect 12-0 record during the regular season as Beyer’s No. 2. “It wasn’t as friendly – not that it was unfriendly – it wasn’t as relaxed as usual.”

For Jacques, it seemed a little too much like business as usual.

“In a way, it was almost anticlimactic,” said Jacques. “We’re really close friends and I warm up with her every day and it sort of felt like a challenge match. I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t a challenge match, that it’s for the MMC title.”

As a freshman, Jacques went undefeated in the regular season, only to lose in the MMC final to Gregori’s Lorel Rodriguez. The following year, she lost her first regular-season match – again to Rodriguez – but was unbeaten the rest of the way en route to her first league crown. Wednesday, she was able to complete the whole package.

Now, she turns her attention to winning the section title, but it won’t be easy.

As the No. 4 seed in 2013, Jacques was down 5-2 to top seed and eventual champ Abby Bacharach of Del Oro (Loomis) before having to retire with an infection in her neck – and injury that landed her in the hospital that night, where she stayed for the next three days.

Bacharach has graduated, but returners are last year’s No. 2 seed Madeline Almeida of Oak Ridge, No. 3 Abbie Mulbarger of St. Mary’s (Stockton) and Rocklin’s Naveena Attota, who beat Almeida to earn a spot in the semis.

“I really want to win sections,” said Jacques. “That’s my goal.”

And her coach would probably would like it a lot more than a toaster.

This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 10:16 PM with the headline "Beyer’s Jacques repeats as MMC girls tennis champion."