Warrior netters reach CIF Division III final

Although El Capitan High School's tennis team defeated Fallbrook High School in the CIF Division III championship match May 14 at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, Fallbrook won three playoff matches to reach the final.

The Warriors had three home matches prior to the championship match and defeated Central Union, Christian, and San Diego Jewish Academy. The results of the four playoff matches gave Fallbrook a final season record of 16-4, including 10-0 in Valley League play.

"It's always good to go on a run at the end of the season and play well," said Fallbrook coach Bill Lenaway.

Boys and girls tennis were combined for the 2020-21 season, so instead of pre-set playoff divisions based on recent past performance, the CIF utilized universal tennis rating data for each of a team's players and based the 2020-21 playoff divisions on the cumulative UTR.

The teams with the eight highest UTR totals played in the Open Division playoffs, the next 16 teams were in Division I, the teams with the 24th to 40th UTR totals competed in the Division II postseason, and schools whose UTR ranked 41st through 56th along with any league champions who received automatic playoff berths were Division III participants.

"I think it's much better. I like it a lot," Lenaway said of playoff divisions being set at the end of the regular season. "It basically is more like professional sports where your achievement's based on your performance for that year."

Basing relative strength on recent years doesn't take into account graduation losses, underclassmen who did not return, freshmen players, or season-ending injuries. Selecting playoff participants based on the current season accommodates those factors. "It just takes into consideration a lot more variables," Lenaway said.

Lenaway hopes that the CIF will continue to use UTR as a playoff selection and seeding factor even when boys tennis and girls tennis return to separate seasons. "It just makes so much more sense, especially since we have a tool to use to get it done," he said. "A lot of sports don't have that tool, but tennis does so why not use it?"

The UTR format also improves accuracy in seeding: 15 of the 16 teams seeded in the top four of their playoff division advanced to the semifinals. "It clearly worked," Lenaway said.

In a normal season, three singles players from each school play sets against each of the other school's singles players while three doubles tandems from each team face each of their doubles counterparts. The 2020-21 matches consisted of three boys singles sets, three girls singles sets, three boys doubles sets, three girls doubles sets, and five mixed doubles sets. The lineups which determined opponents were supposed to be based on UTR during the regular season. "It wasn't mandatory. It was just strongly suggested," Lenaway said.

Basing opponents on UTR was mandatory during the playoffs. Because the lineups for each group of sets are not declared until just before that group is played, if a substitution is made, the matchups will still be based on relative UTR.

Fallbrook was seeded second in Division III. Central Union had the 15th seed. The final score of the May 11 match in Fallbrook was 16-1. "We were just a stronger team," Lenaway said. "The lineup that we put out took advantage of our advantage over them."

The Warriors' three girls singles players– junior Alexa Guadarrama, freshman Angelica Palmerin, and senior Vronie Serrano – all won 6-0 sets against the Spartans. During boys singles play, junior Nash Youngren won a 6-2 set, junior Nolan Sim prevailed in a 6-3 contest, and senior Ethan Lenaway had a 6-4 victory.

Serrano teamed with sophomore Samantha Hanlon for a 6-0 girls doubles win. Sophomores Tracy Lopez and Erin Rowan defeated their Spartans counterparts in a 6-2 set. Guadarrama and junior Carly Hawkins obtained a 6-3 triumph.

The sole Central Union point was for a boys doubles win. Fallbrook won the other two boys doubles sets with juniors Julian Cardenas and Angel Leon achieving a 6-0 result while Sim and junior James Smith won a 6-2 contest.

Hawkins teamed with junior Daniel Winton for a 6-0 mixed doubles victory against Central Union. Youngren and Hanlon won a 6-1 set. Smith and Rowan were 6-1 winners. Lenaway and Palmerin were on the desired end of their set's 6-3 score. Leon and sophomore Cynthia Flor captured a 6-3 set.

Christian had the 10th seed and defeated seventh-seeded Helix in the first round, so the Patriots traveled to Fallbrook for the May 12 match. The Warriors advanced to the semifinals with a 13-4 victory. "We were just a stronger team than they were," Bill Lenaway said.

A boy or girl was limited to two sets in a match, so a school needed at least seven boys and seven girls to avoid forfeiting any sets. Christian only had six boys and forfeited one boys singles set and one boys doubles set. Lenaway had to list specific Fallbrook players for those sets and used Leon in both. Fallbrook had clinched the match prior to the start of mixed doubles play, so Lenaway forfeited one set and an agreement between Lenaway and Christian coach Mike Folsom let Leon and Flor play that set against two Christian players. Leon and Flor won by a 6-1 score, although that point was officially a Christian forfeit win.

The two contested boys singles sets were both 6-1 victories with Ethan Lenaway and Youngren representing Fallbrook. Guadarrama was Fallbrook's only girls singles winner against Christian with a 7-5 victory.

Smith and Sim won a 6-1 boys doubles set. Winton and sophomore Joseph Tygert obtained a 6-4 victory. Fallbrook won two of three girls doubles sets against Christian; Hawkins and Palmerin were 6-0 winners while Serrano and Hanlon had a 6-3 win.

Lenaway and Palmerin played the #1 mixed doubles set. If each player wins six games, a tie breaking game to seven points is played; Lenaway and Palmerin won the 7-3 tiebreaker for a 7-6 set victory. Fallbrook's better mixed double depth produced 6-0 wins by Youngren and Guadarrama and by Serrano and Cardenas while Winton and Hawkins prevailed by a 6-3 score.

The May 13 semifinal between Fallbrook and third-seeded San Diego Jewish Academy had a scheduled 3 p.m. start, and the Lions were willing to begin the match in Fallbrook at 2 p.m. to accommodate Fallbrook senior prom activities. Lenaway, Serrano and Youngren are the only three Fallbrook seniors who played this year; Cole Traut is injured although he was on the roster and was present at the Warriors' matches.

"I just thought the sportsmanship that was shown by coaches and players throughout the playoffs was fantastic," Bill Lenaway said.

Fallbrook's margin of victory over the Lions was 10-7. "That was a close match. They were a good team. They were built like we were from a standpoint of strength and depth," Lenaway said.

"It was a fun match and a competitive match," Lenaway said. "The teams we play are going to keep getting better."

The Lions won all three girls singles sets although Fallbrook swept the boys singles sets with Youngren being a 6-0 victor and Ethan Lenaway and Sim winning by 6-1 scores. Fallbrook also won all three boys doubles sets; Winton and Tygert had a 6-2 outcome in their favor while 6-3 sets were won by Sim and Smith and by Cardenas and Leon. A 6-1 Guadarrama and Hanlon triumph gave the Warriors their only girls doubles point.

The Warriors thus needed two mixed doubles wins to advance to the final and prevailed in three of those sets. Youngren and Guadarrama won a 6-0 contest. Hanlon and Tygert obtained a 6-3 triumph. Hawkins and Winton were forced to a tie breaking game before winning the 7-2 tiebreaker for a 7-6 triumph.

Defeating San Diego Jewish Academy placed Fallbrook in the final. "I didn't think it was something any of us expected when the year began," Bill Lenaway said.

"I just think it was a great experience for our kids," Lenaway said. "I'm just very proud that we were there to play, and I think we represented our school and our league very well."

An 11-6 El Capitan victory denied Fallbrook the CIF title. "There are some other teams that are going to win one," Lenaway said.

The Vaqueros were seeded fourth based on cumulative UTR. "I think it was the way that our teams matched up," Lenaway said.

Lenaway explained that Fallbrook had top players with higher UTR numbers, but El Capitan had better UTR statistics than other Warriors players. "They were more consistent down the line," he said. "Basically what it came down to is they had a little bit more depth."

El Capitan won three 7-5 sets and one 6-4 set. "Our kids came to play. They worked hard," Lenaway said. "We all did everything we could."

Ethan Lenaway, Youngren, and Sim all won 6-0 sets against their El Capitan counterparts. "Our boys on top were far stronger," Bill Lenaway said.

Alexis McDaniel defeated Guadarrama in a 7-5 competition, and El Capitan won the other two girls singles sets by 6-1 scores. The Vaqueros swept the three boys doubles sets, although Sim and Smith won four games before losing. Fallbrook's only girls doubles point was from Hawkins and Palmerin, who split their first 12 games before winning the 7-4 tiebreaker. Lopez and Rowan lost a 7-5 set.

"They had more depth in girls for sure," Bill Lenaway said.

With an 8-4 deficit entering the mixed doubles competition, Fallbrook needed to win all five of those sets to edge the Vaqueros for the championship. The Warriors won two; Serrano and Smith had a 6-2 triumph while Ethan Lenaway and Palmerin prevailed in a 6-2 set. Hanlon and Tygert limited the margin to 7-5.

"It was a good time, and I'm glad my kids got to experience it and have the chance to play for a title," Bill Lenaway said.