Judging by the results, the Clovis North girls tennis team is going to be tough to beat, if at all.
The Broncos are currently 17-0 on the season and looking like a runaway choice to defend their back-to-back Central Section Division I titles, as well as their two consecutive TRAC team titles.
They captured the California High School Tennis Classic on their home court by beating a strong Arroyo Grande team 5-4 back on Sept. 8. Two players on the Arroyo Grande team are playing NCAA Division I next year.
They played Arroyo Grande a second time and won by an identical score of 5-4, both wins coming down to the final match.
In league their toughest competition is Buchanan, the team that has reached the Valley finals the past six years and the team the Broncos defeated the past two. Clovis North won 6-3 on Sept. 20, the rematch looming on Oct. 9 at home.
“I have four seniors who started as freshman in 2015 when we weren’t as good,” Clovis North coach Bryan Juinio said. “They’ve gone through the growing pains and seen year-to-year improvement of our program.”
The top four players are are Mercedes Garcia, Ashley Cardot, Fiona Yao, and Jordan Pickett, who all rotate playing singles and doubles. The Broncos also play a combination of Nyari Muchaka, Manu Javangula and Katie Kucera in both singles and doubles.
Juinio points to the strengths of the top four as their commitment to playing tennis all year round outside of the high school tennis season. They have earned a high enough USTA and UTR (Universal Tennis Rating) ranking to be considered to play tennis in college.
“This type of commitment keeps the girls sharp and gives them the upper edge over most players in our league and section,” Juinio says.
The TRAC individual tournament runs Oct. 11-12 at Central and the CIF playoffs a week later.
“I think the girls coming in the last two years or so have an expectation of success,” Juinio says. “That has helped them to build confidence during the course of the season.”