Downey, Modesto, Central Catholic grab opening-round tennis wins

Modesto Metro Conference squads Downey and Modesto, as well as Central Catholic of the Valley Oak League, delivered victories Monday in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section team tennis playoffs.

The Knights won five out of six singles matches to hold off Rocklin, 5-4, and will take on Delta League champion Davis-Yolo on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the second round of the Division I playoffs.

Nick Mendez, Downey’s No. 1 player, was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Aiden Unarce. Hans Beeler, Matt Ciccarelli, Kade Nomof and Curtis Figgins also won singles matches for the Knights.

The Panthers, meanwhile, defeated Franklin (Elk Grove) 5-4 and will play Monticello Empire League kingpin Armijo (Fairfield) Tuesday at 4.

Freshman Coby McCaig was a 6-0, 6-0 winner over Eron Mendoza in the No. 1 singles matchup, while Nathan Pineda and Ryan Silva also won singles contests. Modesto’s No. 2 doubles team of Saad Mirza and Daniel ChoAhn and the No. 3 tandem of Donato Cipponeri and David Campos came through win victories.

Central Catholic, the No. 3 seed out of the VOL, defeated Ceres, the No. 3 team out of the Western Athletic Conference, 6-3, in the D-III playoffs. The Raiders will face Tri-County Conference champ River City on Tuesday at 4.

The Central Catholic girls team has defeated River City the past two years in the D-III final.

Nolan McCaig, Coby’s older brother, was a 6-1, 6-0 winner over the Raiders’ Conor Fenton in the No. 1 matchup, but CC countered with singles victories from Sam Nicholson, Blaine Rocha and Angelo Rocha. The Raiders swept doubles play, getting wins from the teams of Thomas and John Dunn, Will Lyons and Dane Juarez, and Jacob Schali and Jacob Hill.

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 10:35 PM with the headline "Downey, Modesto, Central Catholic grab opening-round tennis wins."