Lenaway reaches second round of CIF individual tournament

The CIF San Diego Section individual tennis tournament was played May 13-21 on the Morley Field courts in San Diego, and Fallbrook High School sophomore Ethan Lenaway reached the second round.

“He was probably a kid who should win one round,” Fallbrook coach Bill Lenaway said.

The first two singles rounds were contested May 13. Ethan Lenaway began play with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Serra freshman Chaneol Choi. San Diego High School junior Conan McCormack then eliminated Lenaway in a 6-0, 6-1 match.

Three Fallbrook players competed in singles at the CIF tournament, but neither of the other two won a match. The contest between Fallbrook senior Noah Potraz and Del Norte High School junior Joseph Li ended as a 6-1, 6-0 victory for Li. Fallbrook’s other singles player, senior Richard Herrera, lost a pair of 6-0 sets to Eastlake High School sophomore Sebastian Castaneda.

Two Fallbrook doubles tandems also participated in the CIF tournament, although neither advanced past the first round May 14. Due to Advanced Placement testing at Eastlake High School that day the Eastlake doubles players were unable to participate and alternates took their places. The third alternate in doubles was the St. Augustine duo of senior Eugenio Castas and junior Diego Gutierrez, who placed sixth in the Western League tournament. Castas and Gutierrez replaced the Eastlake partners as the first-round opposition for Fallbrook junior Anthony Vazquez and sophomore Chase Che. The St. Augustine players took a 6-1, 6-0 win over their Fallbrook counterparts.

Bill Lenaway said that the alternates might be stronger than automatic qualifiers from weaker conferences. Castas and Gutierrez also won in the second round before falling to the tournament’s fourth seed.

Fallbrook’s other doubles team in the CIF tournament consisted of sophomores Cole Traut and Nash Youngren. The University City tandem of senior Abdul Buzeriba and sophomore Richard Jason placed fifth in the Eastern League tournament to earn a berth in the CIF tournament and a first-round match against Traut and Youngren. Buzeriba and Jason won 6-4 and 6-2 sets to end Fallbrook’s day on the courts.

“Nash and Cole had a nice match. They’ll learn from it,” Lenaway said.

Buzeriba and Jason then won their second-round match before losing to the tournament’s third seed.

“Tough draws and tough matches, but still a good experience for them,” Lenaway said of Fallbrook’s players.

“All of them, that’s their first trip here,” Lenaway said. “It’s all a brand-new experience the first time.”

Two of Fallbrook’s players were seniors.

“I’m just glad that Richard and Noah got to come once before they graduated,” Lenaway said. The other five Warriors will need to qualify for the CIF tournament by placing high enough in the league tournament, but should that happen the CIF tournaments won’t be their first.

“We’ll use this as experience to get better for next time,” Lenaway said.