For the second year in a row, the Pioneer High School girls varsity tennis team has won the Golden Empire League title with an undefeated GEL record.

The Patriots (13-3, 12-0 GEL) went on the road Thursday and swept Dixon 9-0 to go unbeaten in league play in back-to-back seasons.

“I’d say we dominated pretty well!” Pioneer coach Marcail McWilliams emphasized. “Excellent job to everyone involved!”

Senior Aaliyah Reyna Reyna won her No. 1 singles match 6-1, 6-0.  Seniors, Abigail Findley, Julissa Bautista and Madison Findley, along with sophomore Marissa Bautista all swept their opponents 6-0, 6-0 in their respective No. 2, 3, 4 & 5 singles matches. Sophomore Siena Huerta was victorious in her No. 6 singles match by scores of 6-0, 6-1.

Sophomore Arielle Chessher and senior Olivia Higareda won their top seed doubles match 6-3, 6-1. Senior Sukhi Shergill and freshman Adori Reyes cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 second seed doubles victory. Junior Mia Weinstroer and sophomore Aysha Tahir “were last off the courts as the sun was setting,” McWilliams said, and won their No. 3 doubles match by scores of 6-4, 6-3.

The Patriots concluded their regular season on Friday in West Sacramento at River City, who defeated Pioneer 8-1 in the season opener on Aug. 25 in Woodland.

“I think River City is very patient in their tennis and will wait for an opponent to make the mistake,” McWilliams explained. “They are extremely consistent, which can cause anxiety in a player to try to end the point. I felt like our players were usually the ones to decide to make an aggressive move during a long rally yet we weren’t quite in the right position, or it just wasn’t quite the right timing for whatever shot our player decided to do. This comes with experience, knowing which shot and which risk to take at the right moment.”

The Raiders prevailed last week by the same score but McWilliams remained encouraged after the loss.

“We had a good match on Friday against River City,” McWilliams recalled. “I felt like the level of tennis I saw from our players was the best of their abilities, which made me proud to see! The scores we had definitely do not reflect the good quality tennis I saw in our girls who had long rallies and smart shots. My assistant coach Suzanna and I commented to each other that we could really see the thought process of moving the ball to the right place on the court.”

Reyna lost 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 1 singles contest.

“It’s great to see that there was improvement in the second set,” McWilliams stated. “She played very well and fought hard, her serve was excellent and it was not easy for their player to win. This was one of the last matches to finish up.”

Abigail was the lone victor Friday, earning a 6-3, 6-2 win in the second seed singles match.

“She was also the only one to win when this team came to us in August, which is great she has been so consistent all season,” McWilliams recalled. “There were long points that were very well crafted. I remember a lot of shots that were low over the net, it was really fun to see!”

Julissa lost 6-3, 6-1 in what McWilliams deemed an “exciting” No. 3 singles contest.

“This was one of my favorites I saw,” McWilliams proclaimed. “I feel like her serve has gone up a level within the past two weeks, one of the games she won consisted of almost all aces, which was great to see! She moved the ball very well during the points and I was really surprised her score wasn’t higher than it was. It does not reflect the quality of tennis I saw.”

Madison was defeated 6-2, 6-1 in the fourth seed singles match.

“I was shocked, the rallies were so long I would have thought she had gotten more games,” McWilliams stated. “I couldn’t tell that it was a low score against us. It’s helpful in the pros on TV when they not only report the score but the duration of the sets and matches. It gives some perspective on what happened, more than just numbers. Even though she didn’t get many games, both players had red faces and hard earned points.

“Sometimes I tell myself when I play ‘If I’m going to lose, I’m going to make her work really hard to win,’ and Maddy surely gave that girl a workout!”

Huerta moved up a spot to No. 5 singles and lost 6-1, 6-0.

“This was also one of my favorite matches because of how well she crafted the points,” McWilliams proclaimed. “I noticed during league play, and also from personal experience playing against her, that she would use different strategies such as luring an opponent forward and then lobbing it over them. What I was particularly glad to see was her ability to continue to control a point against a higher level player.”

Chessher moved up to singles at the sixth seed and was swept 6-0, 6-0.

“While she didn’t get any games against her opponent, I got the impression that she felt she played well,” McWilliams stated. “She hasn’t had much singles experience, especially against this level of a team. From what I saw, she was definitely playing her best, which made me happy to see. I’m very proud of the growth I’ve seen in her game since last year!”

In doubles play, Higareda and Shergill competed in the top seed match while Reyes and freshman Emily Tang played in the No. 2 seed contest. Both duos were swept by River City.

“They distracted me from seeing Olivia and Sukhi’s match because I saw them playing so well together as a team! I saw them doing stuff I haven’t taught them yet! There was a point where Emily hit a short bounce ground stroke and continued forward passing Adori to approach the net and won the point with a volley,” McWilliams said of the freshmen duo. “There was another point where Emily was pulled wide and Adori backed up from the net to close the open space within the court. Again, this is something I’ve barely talked about, I don’t know if she learned this or just did it out of instinct, but this was exactly the right move and it made me excited to see smart tennis being applied.”

In the final doubles contest of the regular season, sophomores Uswa Rehman and Karla Alfaro were defeated 6-0, 6-1.

“They had some good lobs and kept the ball deep, which is really hard for an opponent to return,” McWilliams stated. “We just made a lot more errors than the other team.”

The Patriots also played two exhibition doubles matches before departing West Sacramento. Weinstroer and freshman Mia Magana formed “Team Mia” and the other duo consisted of Tahir and freshman Anna Callens. Both pairs lost 6-0, 6-1.

Pioneer sent Reyna and Abigail to compete in singles play at the GEL tournament, which began Monday afternoon at Woodland High School. Doubles play will be contested on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

“It’d be hard to get both to qualify in the top two,” McWilliams foreshadowed. “Rio Linda’s No. 1 player (senior Miya Ho) is very good, but I believe we have a good chance at securing one of the top two spots.”