Oakdale High water polo, golf and tennis teams saw bountiful success in September action in the Sac-Joaquin Section preseason and the Valley Oak regular season. Following are recaps of the recent contests.
Water Polo
Oakdale’s varsity girls took on some of the best teams in California at the 32-team Clovis West Tournament, advancing to the quarterfinals and finishing sixth overall in the superbly competitive field.
Oakdale ousted Central Fresno and Porterville by four and three goals, respectively, to advance into the top eight. There, Oakdale dropped a game to Leland of San Jose before topping Clovis East in sudden death. The win propelled the Mustangs to the fifth place contest, where Lincoln of Stockton snared a one-goal margin to win the match.
“The teams we played this weekend would blow our league away,” Oakdale water polo coach Alan Stender said. “It was a very tough, early season tournament, which was our goal to see.”
Oakdale will get another shot at Lincoln when the two teams meet in Oakdale on Sept. 14. The Mustangs also have a match today at Buhach Colony in Atwater.
Golf
Oakdale snared back-to-back VOL wins over Manteca and Sonora to start the season. The team topped Manteca after a 295-360 rout at the par 36 Oakdale Golf and Country Club. Jaylene Ponce took medalist honor in 46 strokes while Michele DesRochers shot a 60. Frankie Taylor carded a 62 while Julie Bolme and Nikki Stastny followed in succession at 63 and 64 connecting swings of the club.
Oakdale ousted Sonora in 280-292 fashion at the same course after a 44-stroke medalist effort from Ponce. Bolme shot a 52 while DesRochers finished in 58 and Stastny in 59. Taylor carded a 67 as well.
Oakdale hosts Escalon today at 3:30 p.m.
Tennis
Oakdale opened VOL tennis 1-1 after a 9.5-5.5 win over Manteca followed by an 11-4 loss to Sonora on Sept. 2.
The Manteca win came after big singles win from Elise Derby, who defeated Marlen Kurzhals, Wendy Lin and Jasmine Sandhu in 7-6 (7-4), 6-0, 6-2 scores. Emily Clayton fell to Kurzhals and Lin, but topped Sandhu by a 6-0 tally. Lindsay Dunn also topped Sandhu (7-5) but fell in tough losses to Kurhals and Lin.
Oakdale’s doubles tandem of Laurie Baxter and Katie Odom defeated Adaeze Nkwocha and Kaile Hunt 10-1, and ousted Kelli Lane and Valarie Monarrez 10-3.
Nicole Armstrong and Jacelyn Bunney defeated Lane and Monarrez 10-8, but allowed a 10-6 win to Nkwocha and Hunt.
Armstrong, Bunney and Baxter, Odom fell in four games to Sonora’s doubles teams two days later. Derby snagged three of Oakdale’s four points with 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 wins over Brielle Snyder, Kaylee Hamblin and Jade Mena. Dunn fell to all three while Emily Clayton snagged a lone win in 6-1 fashion over Mena.
Oakdale is at Lathrop on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
