Patterson eliminated Ceres High’s varsity boys tennis team from Western Athletic Conference title contention this past week.

The Tigers beat the visiting Bulldogs 6-3 on Thursday and moved into a tie for first place with Livingston in the WAC.

Ceres High (7-3) dropped to third place behind Livingston (10-1) and Patterson (9-1) in the conference standings.

“Winning a WAC title is not easy,” Bulldogs head coach Brandon Moring said. “We lost a talented group to graduation last year. Our team is young and motivated to improve. I’m very proud of their effort this year and look forward to the last few matches and playoffs.”

Ceres High won three of six singles and dropped three doubles matches during its showdown with Patterson.

Bulldog Nolan McCaig defeated Francisco Lagarde 6-0, 6-1 in No. 1 singles play.

Donnavin Koeurn defeated Gerardo Ortiz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in No. 5 singles play.

Jorge Campos defeated Lolyn Tejada 6-0, 6-3 in No. 6 singles play.

Christian Pimentel lost 6-0, 6-0 to Julian Ramirez in No. 2 singles play.

Chris Padilla lost 6-1, 6-4 to Michael Cosio in No. 3 singles play.

Bruno de la Torre lost 6-4, 7-5 to Chris Tapia in No. 4 singles play.

Charles Lo and Juan Hernandez lost 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 7-5 to German Ortiz and Carlos Ortega in No. 1 doubles play.

Ozzie Carrillo and Adrian Covarrubias lost 6-4, 6-3 to Antonio Villareal and Daniel Valverde in No. 2 doubles play.

Aiden Moore and Will Rodriguez lost 6-1, 7-5 to Santi Zuleta and Samuel Garcia in No. 2 doubles play.

Ceres High placed first in the WAC the past four seasons, amassing a combined record of 47-1.

The Bulldogs had their 45-match unbeaten streak in conference play snapped by the visiting Tigers on March 15.

Patterson outlasted Ceres High, 3-2.

Ceres High will close out the WAC season at Livingston this Thursday.