Ceres tennis team still perfect with nonleague win over Gregori

Ceres High School’s boys tennis team kept its perfect record intact with a 6-3 victory over host Gregori in a nonleague matchup Monday.

The teams split the singles matches 3-3, but the Bulldogs (11-0) swept the doubles competition.

Ceres’ top two players – Nolan McCaig and Julio Ochoa – cruised to easy victories. McCaig defeated freshman Zak Hijaouy 6-0, 6-2, while Ochoa beat David Brady 6-0, 6-0.

Ochoa is nursing a labral tear in his right shoulder that forces him to serve underhanded.

“I can pretty much play, but I have to be careful,” said Ochoa, who helped Ceres to a 29-1 record last season and reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II doubles final with teammate Chase Harden. “It’s not that I can’t serve, but I shouldn’t.”

Because of Ochoa’s injury, McCaig is No. 1 for the Bulldogs for the time being.

“I’ve known Nolan for many years,” Hijaouy said. “Going into this match, it had a nothing-to-lose kind of feel. I just gave it my all. I knew it was going to be tough, of course. But he hit a lot of winners, I hit a lot of winners, and a lot of rallies were really good.”

Even though the Jaguars (6-3) were bested, coach Ethan Duewell felt his team came away from the match with more than just a loss.

“We got beat pretty good last year by Ceres,” Duewell said. “We want to be in matches and have to work, and we did that. For us, that’s a big positive. ... I think it can go a long way for us confidence-wise.”

Gregori, a perfect 5-0 in the Modesto Metro Conference, will try to carry those positive vibes into Tuesday’s showdown with 5-0 Downey.

The match starts at 3:15 p.m. at Downey Park.

This story was originally published March 24, 2015 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Ceres tennis team still perfect with nonleague win over Gregori."