Larson, Guadarrama play in CIF tennis tournament

Two Fallbrook High School players participated in the CIF individual tennis tournament Nov. 5-9 at the Balboa Tennis Center in San Diego although both lost in the first round.

The first-round matches were played Nov. 5. Fallbrook senior Makena Larson lost a 6-4, 6-0 competition against Christian senior Lauren Mansy.

"I came back in the first set," Larson said.

Mansy had leads of 3-0 and 4-1 in the first set. Larson narrowed the deficit to 4-3. Mansy won the next game to take a 5-3 lead. Larson followed with a win to create a 5-4 score, but Mansy won the ensuing game to capture the set.

"The girl was very steady and very consistent and did a good job," Fallbrook coach Bill Lenaway said of Mansy. "She didn't make many mistakes."

Larson thus closed out her high school tennis career with her first appearance in the CIF tournament. "It was a really awesome experience," she said.

Mansy reached the singles final of the Eastern League tournament before settling for second place. Mira Mesa sophomore Valerie Tran captured fifth place in that tournament. Tran faced Fallbrook freshman Alexa Guadarrama in the first round of the CIF tournament and advanced with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at Guadarrama's expense.

"It was difficult," Guadarrama said.

"Played a good player," Lenaway said of Guadarrama's loss.

The singles players and doubles teams who reached the quarterfinals at the Valley League tournament Oct. 29-31 at San Pasqual High School qualified for the CIF tournament, as did the singles player and doubles tandem who lost in the quarterfinals but then won two matches to earn fifth place. Larson and Alexa Guadarrama both reached the league tournament semifinals and played each other in the third-place match; Larson's win gave her third place and Guadarrama fourth place for the league tournament.

"It's an honor to represent my league," Guadarrama said of playing in the CIF tournament.