Warrior netters reach CIF semifinals

Fallbrook High School’s girls tennis team reached the CIF Division I semifinals before a loss to Rancho Bernardo.

The Warriors received the third seed in the CIF Division I playoffs, earning a first-round bye, and defeated Vista in the quarterfinals.

“I’m very, very proud of the girls. We had a really good season,” said Fallbrook coach Dave Ramirez.

The Warriors were undefeated in Avocado League competition. Vista finished second in the league with an 8-2 record, losing only to Fallbrook. A first-round playoff win over Grossmont improved Vista’s overall record to 16-5 and put the Panthers in the quarterfinals against Fallbrook.

Fallbrook hosted Vista November 1 and took a 12-6 victory. “We were always in control,” Ramirez said.

“Vista’s like a team that gets us pumped up for some reason,” Ramirez said. “We’re always ready to play them.”

On October 24 in a league match Vista also won six sets against Fallbrook. No other team did as well against the Warriors in league competition.

“They played better the last two times we played them,” Ramirez said of Vista, who won three sets against the Warriors in an October 5 league match.

Torrey Pines, which entered the CIF playoffs with a 21-1 overall record including a 10-0 Palomar League mark, was given the top Division I seed. Rancho Bernardo, with a 14-5 regular-season record including a 7-3 performance in Palomar League play, was seeded second. Poway, whose 16-5 regular-season record included a September 21 loss to Fallbrook as well as a 6-4 Palomar League mark, was seeded fourth.

Rancho Bernardo, which had defeated Fallbrook in the regular season, advanced to the semifinals with a 15-3 victory over Carlsbad. The Broncos and Warriors faced off November 2 at the neutral site of Poway High School. Rancho Bernardo advanced to the finals with a 14-4 win.

“We were really close,” Ramirez said. “If we would have just played the deuce points and the ad <advantage> points a little more aggressively it could have changed the match completely.”

Fallbrook sophomore Roxanne Parker defeated the Broncos’ #1 player. “It was pretty awesome,” Ramirez said. “That was a big upset.”

Even the loss didn’t deter Ramirez from optimism. “Our girls showed a lot of poise and the ability to deal with pressure very well,” he said.

Only three of the nine girls on the varsity squad are seniors: #2 singles player Jennifer Doehring, #1 doubles team member Mallory Wedeking, and #3 doubles member Maggie Dietering. The team has three juniors and two freshmen in addition to Parker and the three seniors.

“The last four years I think this is probably one of the best teams we’ve had,” Ramirez said.

The players themselves were upset with the loss in the semifinals. “They felt they had a chance,” Ramirez said. “It’s just a tribute to the girls’ support for one another and their hard work.”