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Guadarrama, Winton/Tygert win league tennis titles

13 Warriors reach CIF tournament

The Valley League tennis tournament took place May 17-20 at San Pasqual High School and ended with Fallbrook players winning the championship in two divisions and 13 Warriors qualifying for the CIF tournament.

Fallbrook junior Alexa Guadarrama won the girls singles championship while junior Daniel Winton and sophomore Joseph Tygert were the boys doubles champions. Each league is allowed to send five players or doubles teams in each event to the CIF tournament; all semifinalists qualified for the CIF tournament, and a backdraw with the quarterfinals losers determined the fifth-place singles and doubles players who would continue their season at the CIF competition.

"We had a great league tournament," said Fallbrook coach Bill Lenaway.

"It was a tough tournament to run," said Lenaway, who as the league advisor organized the tournament as well as coached the Warriors. "It was a tough tournament to play in."

In an effort to reduce the length on the court each day, if players split the first two sets they played a tie breaking game to 10 points with a requirement to win by at least two points rather than a third full set. "With five divisions we just did not have time to play two out of three sets," Lenaway said. "I think it was a better way to go for the league tournament."

The backdraw which selected the fifth-place player or doubles team in each bracket was one set with the first player or doubles team to win eight games prevailing, and the third-place matches were also one set to eight games.

"I think the league tournament ran pretty well," Lenaway said.

This year the brackets were limited to 14 entries with the top two seeds receiving byes and additional byes if the brackets were not filled, and schools were limited to two entries per division with additional entries allowed to fill out brackets.

"I think we got everybody in who wanted in," Lenaway said.

Guadarrama received a first-round bye. A 6-1, 6-0 loss to Vista junior Lindsey Harris eliminated sophomore Cynthia Flor while freshman Angie Palmerin began play with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Ramona senior Camdyn Hartman.

In the quarterfinal round, Guadarrama defeated San Pasqual sophomore Sophie Torello in 6-1 and 6-0 sets. Palmerin relegated Ramona's Kiera Duffy to the backdraw with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph.

"I thought that was a really big match for Angelina. Kiera's a senior. Angie's a freshman," Lenaway said.

The bracket pitted Guadarrama and Palmerin against each other in the semifinals. That was also the only match in which Guadarrama needed a third set to win.

"I was proud of Angie for taking a set off of Alexa. I was proud of Alexa for not letting that bother her," Lenaway said.

Guadarrama won the 6-2 first set. Palmerin forced the tie breaking game with a 7-5 victory. The score of the tiebreaker was 10-7.

"I think that's a testament to her work ethic and her personality," Lenaway said of Palmerin. "She works so hard."

In the other semifinal, Harris defeated Valley Center senior Rania Price. Guadarrama and Harris played in the final while Palmerin faced Price in the third-place match.

"Rania is real steady," Lenaway said.

Lenaway explained that Price's style of play can frustrate opponents. Palmerin's mistakes contributed to Price's 8-4 victory which gave her third place and Palmerin fourth place.

"Angie will clean those things up," Lenaway said.

Fourth place still allowed Palmerin to end her freshman season at the CIF tournament. "Most freshmen don't even sniff going to CIF," Lenaway said.

Harris and Price were the only two players to defeat Guadarrama in league dual match play. "Lindsey plays long matches," Lenaway said.

"The first time, that got to Alexa," Lenaway said. "This time we talked to her about being patient."

Guadarrama followed a 7-5 victory in the first set with a 6-3 win in the second set.

"I was happy to see her avenge a loss earlier in the season," Lenaway said. "She was able to avenge both of her losses."

The different outcome in the second match gave Guadarrama the 2020-21 league championship. "That's fantastic," Lenaway said. "I think it's great for her."

Guadarrama also qualified for the CIF tournament as a freshman when she finished fourth. She lost the third-place match to Makena Larson, who was Fallbrook's only senior in 2018.

Both of Fallbrook's boys doubles teams were given first-round byes. Winton and Tygert were joined in that division by juniors Julian Cardenas and Angel Leon.

Ramona sophomore Aidan Pedersen and freshman Noah Furchner faced Winton and Tygert in the quarterfinals. The Fallbrook duo captured a pair of 6-1 sets.

If each player wins six games a tie breaking game to seven points is played, and that was the situation when Cardenas and Leon faced Valley Center juniors Adam Cruz and Matthew Kishi. A 7-4 win in the tie breaking game gave Cruz and Kishi a 7-6 victory in the first set. Cardenas and Leon responded with a 6-4 triumph in the second set. Cruz and Kishi prevailed in the 10-7 one-game tiebreaking set.

The Valley Center entries also included junior Angel Hernandez and freshman Levi Leichtfuss. They began their semifinal match with a 6-1 victory over Winton and Tygert.

"They got a super slow start," Lenaway said of his players.

The score of the second set was also 6-1 with Winton and Tygert being on the desired end. Winton and Tygert won the 10-6 tiebreaker.

"I'm proud of my guys," Lenaway said.

"They dropped that first set but didn't panic, didn't get frustrated," Lenaway said. "They came back and did what they needed to do."

The matches between Fallbrook and Valley Center continued in the final as Winton and Tygert faced Cruz and Kishi. Winton and Tygert won 6-3 and 6-0 sets.

"I think they learned that they can't have slow starts," Lenaway said.

"They just went out there and beat them pretty decisively," Lenaway said. "They got focused and took care of business."

The result gave Winton and Tygert the league championship. "I'm just so proud that they did it. They had a good season. They played well," Lenaway said.

The coronavirus shutdown ended the 2020 boys season prior to the start of league play, so this year's league tournament was the first for Tygert. "I think the whole experience of even having a season was so important for these kids," Lenaway said.

Winton played doubles in the 2019 tournament and lost in the first found. Cardenas and Leon lost in the round of 16 two years ago.

Cardenas and Leon began the backdraw against Escondido's Charlie Nguyen and Bryson Reyes. An 8-1 victory advanced the Fallbrook duo into the fifth-place match against Pedersen and Furchner. Cardenas and Leon won the 8-2 set to qualify for the CIF tournament.

"They did a good job and I think they were the best team in the backdraw and they showed it," Lenaway said.

Cardenas and Leon do not play in off-season tournaments. "Just qualifying for CIF to me is an achievement for those guys," Lenaway said.

All three of Fallbrook's boys singles players - senior Ethan Lenaway, senior Nash Youngren, and junior Nolan Sim – had first-round byes. In the quarterfinals Lenaway won 6-4 and 6-0 sets against San Pasqual's Aiden Hess. Youngren defeated Valley Center senior Jordi Pacheco by a 7-5, 6-0 score.

"They both really struggled out of the gate," Bill Lenaway said. "They focused and took care of business."

Hess won the first three games before Ethan Lenaway won 12 of the final 13 games.

Sim faced San Pasqual's Sean Golding, who won the 6-2 first set. A 6-1 Sim victory in the second set triggered the tiebreaking set. The requirement to win the game by at least two points extended the tiebreaker won 11-9 by Golding. "That was just a hard-fought match," Bill Lenaway said.

Golding lost a three-set semifinal match to Ethan Lenaway, whose 6-2 win in the first set was followed by Golding's 6-3 triumph. "I thought Sean just put up a good fight," Bill Lenaway said.

Ethan Lenaway took a 10-3 victory in the tiebreaker. "I was proud that he figured out how to get through that tiebreaker," Bill Lenaway said.

Youngren would face Golding in the third-place match after Valley Center freshman Damian Robles captured a pair of 6-1 sets at Youngren's expense in the other semifinal.

Robles played Ethan Lenaway in the championship match. A pair of 6-3 wins gave Robles the league title.

"I would credit Damian for coming in really focused and really driven," Bill Lenaway said.

Youngren defeated Golding in the 8-4 third-place match. "I think Nash played really well," Lenaway said.

In 2019, Ethan Lenaway reached the league singles final and Youngren was part of a doubles team which played in the league championship match.

Sim opened the backdraw with an 8-0 victory against Hess. He then defeated Pacheco in the 8-2 fifth-place match to obtain the final CIF berth.

"Nolan dominated the backdraw as he should have. He was clearly the fifth-best player in the league, and he showed it in the backdraw," Bill Lenaway said. "He had no problem in the backdraw."

Sim did not play tennis as a freshman or sophomore. "He's just going to get better as he gets some more matches under his belt," Lenaway said.

The girls doubles bracket gave a first-round bye to junior Carly Hawkins and sophomore Samantha Hanlon while pitting sophomores Tracy Lopez and Erin Rowan against junior Savannah Parke and sophomore Ella Nosti of San Pasqual. Parke and Nosti eliminated Lopez and Rowan in a 6-0, 6-1 match.

"Tracy and Erin are both still relatively beginners tennis-wise," Lenaway said. "It's just an experience thing."

Hawkins and Hanlon needed three sets to defeat Parke and Nosti in the quarterfinals. The Fallbrook players began the match with a 6-4 win, Parke and Nosti prevailed in the 7-5 second set, and Hawkins and Hanlon won the 11-9 tiebreaker.

"All these matches, close matches, are just learning experiences for those kids," Lenaway said.

Ramona seniors Ryan Din and Michaela Pierce won the girls doubles championship, and their route included a 6-4, 6-1 semifinal victory over Hawkins and Hanlon. "Ramona has a very good girls squad," Lenaway said. "A lot of their best players are playing doubles."

Din and Pierce defeated Ramona teammates in the final, and the Bulldogs had the top three girls doubles seeds.

In the third-place match, Hawkins and Hanlon obtained an 8-3 triumph against sixth-seeded Valley Center seniors Alondra Olvera and Myrka Troncoso. "They beat somebody they weren't supposed to," Lenaway said.

Hawkins lost a first-round doubles match in 2018 and lost to Price in the second round of singles play in 2019. The 2019 doubles matches included Hanlon being eliminated in the round of 16 and a first-round loss for Flor and Lopez.

"I was glad to see Sam and Carly get the added experience of going on," Lenaway said.

Fallbrook's only mixed doubles entry of senior Vronie Serrano and junior James Smith opened play by capturing a pair of 6-1 sets against Ramona seniors Samuel Bleakley and Kiersten Douglas. "That was an expected win," Lenaway said.

Because the mixed doubles bracket had only eight entries, that placed Serrano and Smith into the semifinals and assured them of a CIF tournament entry. The Valley Center tandem of senior Jordan Roche and junior Chris Coleman advanced to the finals with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Serrano and Smith. "That was a close match," Lenaway said.

Serrano and Smith took third place with an 8-2 victory over Lauren Ice and Junior Navarrete of Escondido.

Smith lost a doubles match in the first round of the 2019 tournament. Serrano reached the 2019 doubles quarterfinals before her partner's illness forced a default both in that match and in the backdraw, and she lost on the court in the 2018 doubles quarterfinals and backdraw.

"I was really happy that Vronie got to go to CIF," Lenaway said. "She's been a great teammate, a good leader."

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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