Olivarez wins Butte View League singles

If there was any more evidence needed to show how balanced the Orland High School tennis team was this year, it presented itself this weekend at the Butte View League tennis championships.

Josh Olivarez, the No. 2 player on the Trojan team, edged teammate Cody Wackerman, the No. 3 seed on the team, for the Butte View League singles title in Gridley.
Olivarez won the finals match 6-4, 6-4.

If that weren’t enough, Orland’s No. 5 seed, Reily Dingus, upset the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Charlie Mewborne of Las Plumas, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals and earn a berth to the section tournament next week.

In all, the Trojans had three players in the semifinals and four earned all-league status. Phelipe Pereira earned all-league status after advancing to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win over Marko Sohrakoff of Wheatland in the second round. However Pereira lost to Wackerman 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

Wackermand advanced to the finals with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over Gridley’s Zach MacFarlance while Olivarez knocked off Dingus 6-4, 6-1 in the other semifinal.

Meanwhile the Trojans’ No. 3 doubles team of Caneane Salinthone and Dingus reached the finals, falling to the No. 1 team from Sutter. Orland’s No. 1 doubles team,
Salinthone and Dingus knocked off the No. 1 team from Gridley in the first round, 8-4, and then topped the No. 1 team from Wheatland in the second round, 7-5, 6-3.

In the semifinals, Salinthone and Dingus edged the Wheatland No. 2 team 6-2, 6-3. They lost in the finals 6-3, 6-3.

Pereira and Wackerman,  defeated the Wheatland No. 2 team for third place and will also advance to the second finals. Pereira and Wackerman won their first match 6-3, 6-4, but lost to the Sutter duo 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals.

All totaled, five Trojans, Olivarez, Dingus, Wackerman, Pereira, and Salinthone, will compete in the section finals next week.

Olivarez became just the fifth Orland player to ever win the singles championship. He joins Tom Coshow (1983), Hari Lilja (1986), Enrique Rodriguez (1992), and Alex Jimenez (2003).