Tennis perfection earns Shadow Hills star Pocial Athlete of the Week; vote for this week’s winner


Shadow Hills' Isabella Pimentel prepares a serve during the singles final of the Desert Empire League individual tennis championships at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.

It’s time to reveal the winner of the Pocial Athlete of the Week, and the voters took note of a pretty special performance and honored it with this week’s victory.

Shadow Hills tennis player Isabella Pimentel had a perfect blitz through the Desert Empire League individual championship, winning the title without losing a game. She won two preliminary rounds 8-0, 8-0, won her semifinal 6-0, 6-0 and the championship match 6-0, 6-0. A perfect 40-0.

For her efforts you voted in droves for her to win this week’s Pocial Athlete of the Week, edging Desert Hot Springs cross country star Rey Morales who also received a ton of votes.

Who will be this week’s winner? Check out the candidates below and vote for your favorite in the poll at the bottom of this article.

The Pocial Athlete of the Week

Nate Bilodeau

Xavier Prep water polo

What he did: Bilodeau had a great game in the Saints’ quarterfinal loss to defending champion San Dimas, scoring six of Xavier Prep’s 10 goals in an 18-10 setback, after helping Xavier Prep win a second-round playoff game two days earlier.

Simon Cook

Palm Desert cross country

What he did: The Aztecs runner shaved 55 seconds off his time from the first Desert Empire League meet, jumping from ninth place to sixth place in the DEL final with a time of 16:26.5. He helped the Aztecs finish second as a team.

Julia Fernandez

Shadow Hills cross country

What she did: Fernandez won the Desert Empire League individual final with a time of 17:48.7. She won the title after finishing third in the first race of the season. She cut 54 seconds off of her previous time.

Juliana Guerrero

La Quinta tennis

What she did: Guerrero followed up a third-place finish in the Desert Empire League individual finals with a solid effort in the Blackhawks’ playoff match against Indio. Guerrero won all three of her singles sets, 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 to produce three points for La Quinta in the loss.

Lorena Parra-Hernandez and Mia Castillo 

Indio tennis

What they did: The Rajahs’ No. 1 doubles team continued their perfect season by winning three sets against La Quinta in the first round of the playoffs, lifting the team to an 11-7 win. That followed up their DVL doubles title the previous week. They did not lose a set all season.


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