Warrior netters win league opener

Fallbrook High School’s girls tennis team won its league opener September 25 at the Fallbrook Tennis Club.

The Warriors began Avocado League play with a 16-2 victory over El Camino. “I anticipate in league to have a pretty good season,” said Fallbrook coach Dave Ramirez. “We’re pretty deep this year.”

Fallbrook entered league competition with three non-league losses as well as a handful of major victories. Two of those losses were to Torrey Pines – a doubles tournament in which the Warriors finished third and a regular-format match with an 11-7 score – and the other loss was to Rancho Bernardo by an 11-7 margin.

The loss to Rancho Bernardo opened the Warriors’ season. “After that loss I think they stepped it up mentally,” Ramirez said.

The doubles tournament included eight of the county’s top teams: Fallbrook, Cathedral Catholic, La Costa Canyon, La Jolla Country Day, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, San Pasqual, and Torrey Pines. The Warriors participated in the tournament for the first time in the team’s history and played all three of their opponents on the road.

Six doubles matches, with each match ending when a doubles team won two sets, were played in each round. Although the Warriors lost to Torrey Pines in the first round, Fallbrook earned a 4-2 victory over La Costa Canyon in the second round and a 5-1 triumph against San Pasqual in the third round to place third in the tournament.

“That’s not bad,” Ramirez said.

The Warriors’ pre-league wins also included matches against Poway and Mount Carmel. “We beat some of the big teams,” Ramirez said.

The Warriors are actually a young team; only three of the ten varsity players are seniors and five of those ten were not on the 2006 varsity squad. “They are a pretty well-rounded group. We have some pretty good athletes this year,” Ramirez said.

Fallbrook’s No. 1 singles player, junior Roxanne Parker, has been on the varsity since she was a freshman. Parker won the 2006 Avocado League singles championship.

The No. 2 singles player is freshman Hailey Johnson, who won all three sets in the standard-format match against Torrey Pines. “She’s going very, very well,” Ramirez said. “She’s playing solid.”

The No. 3 singles player, junior Raeanne DuPont, was on the junior varsity team in 2006.

Senior Angela Maddock was on the Fallbrook doubles team which won the league doubles championship last year. Maddock’s 2006 partner, Mallory Wedeking, has graduated, and this year Maddock is paired with freshman Jessica Willett as the No. 1 doubles team. “I look for them to win league this year,” Ramirez said.

Seniors Spencer Spagnuolo and Ashley Derrigo comprise the No. 2 doubles team. Both played on the varsity squad in 2006.

The No. 3 doubles team consists of sophomore Michaela Johnson, who was on the varsity last year as a freshman, and junior Leah Perri, who spent 2006 on the JV squad.

Sophomore Brianna Hanson, who was on the 2006 junior varsity team, is the one reserve on this year’s varsity and will be inserted where appropriate.

The girls tennis program also has a new junior varsity coach; Bill Lenaway has high school coaching experience elsewhere but is new to Fallbrook. Ramirez is assisted on the varsity squad by Tawnya Deitering and Linda Johnson.