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Guadarrama, Serrano/Smith reach third round of CIF tournament

The CIF individual tennis tournament was played May 24 through June 10 at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, and two Fallbrook High School entries advanced to the third round.

Alexa Guadarrama ended her junior season in the third round of the girls singles bracket. Fallbrook's mixed doubles entry of senior Vronie Serrano and junior James Smith also reached the third round. The girls doubles team of junior Carly Hawkins and sophomore Samantha Hanlon advanced to the second round, and senior Ethan Lenaway reached the second round of boys singles play.

"I think we played up to our potential and up to our ability," said Fallbrook coach Bill Lenaway.

"There were a couple of times where we were a little bit overmatched," Lenaway said. "The matches we should have won we won."

Each league is allowed five players or doubles teams in each event at the CIF individual tournament; all Valley League tournament semifinalists qualified for the CIF tournament and a backdraw with the quarterfinals losers determined the fifth-place entries. Fallbrook qualified three boys singles players, two girls singles players, two boys doubles teams, one girls doubles team, and one mixed doubles team.

The matches prior to the round of 16 were one set with the first player or doubles team to win eight games advancing. Guadarrama began play May 24 with an 8-1 triumph over Southwest junior Sarahi Nunez.

Fallbrook's season began March 4 with a non-league home win over Tri-City Christian. Guadarrama lost her girls singles set to sophomore Hanna Liljenback, but when the two faced each other May 26 in the second round of the CIF tournament Guadarrama was on the winning end of the 8-4 score.

"Alexa had a rare chance to play a girl this year she lost to earlier in the season," Lenaway said. "She got another chance at the girl and beat her."

The win over a player who had previously defeated Guadarrama was her third this season. She lost to Valley Center senior Rania Price in the first round of league play but defeated Price in the second round, and she lost to Vista junior Lindsey Harris in league play but defeated Harris in the Valley League championship match.

"The round following that she ran into a really good seeded tournament player," Lenaway said.

The top four players or doubles teams in each bracket are given specific seeds, the next four seeds received unspecified 5-8 rankings, eight players or duos had unspecified 9-16 seeds, and four entries were given unspecified 17-20 seeds. Patrick Henry sophomore Victoria Tracey had a 9-16 seed. Tracey also has a universal tennis rating of 6. Guadarrama has a UTR of 3. Tracey advanced to the round of 16 with an 8-0 triumph at Guadarrama's expense May 27.

Guadarrama had also played in the CIF tournament as a freshman and as a sophomore but lost in the first round both years.

"Getting to the third round of CIF is a big deal," Lenaway said.

Fallbrook's other player in the girls singles division, freshman Angie Palmerin, had a first-round match May 24 against San Marcos sophomore Summer Roybal.

"Angie had a tough draw," Lenaway said. "She's a tournament player coached by her dad."

Roybal, whose father is the tennis pro at the St. Mark country club in San Marcos, has a UTR of 5. Palmerin has a UTR of 2. Roybal won that 8-3 set.

"Angie did a good job," Lenaway said.

"She got down early," Lenaway said. "She won a couple of games in a row."

Roybal took a 6-1 lead before Palmerin won two games in a row.

Serrano and Smith opened play May 26 with an 8-5 victory over the Clairemont tandem of senior Alexa Gonzalez and junior Joey Murphy.

"Vronnie and James pulled it out," Lenaway said.

Serrano and Smith had a scheduled May 27 match against High Tech High San Diego senior Elle Davis and junior Adam Gans, but the Storm players withdrew so Serrano and Smith advanced to the third round.

Santa Fe Christian freshman Blake Bothmir and sophomore Caylie Cruz had a 9-16 seed. Bothmir has a UTR of 7. Cruz's UTR is 3. Smith has a UTR of 4 and Serrano has a UTR of 2. Bothmir and Cruz defeated Smith and Serrano in an 8-0 set May 28.

"Vronnie and James were just a little overmatched," Lenaway said.

In 2019, Serrano reached the league 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 league doubles quarterfinals and backdraw, so the 2020-21 CIF individual tournament was her first. "I was just happy to see her get there," Lenaway said.

Serrano was Fallbrook's only girl senior. Three senior boys were on the roster, although Cole Traut was injured and did not play during the season so Ethan Lenaway and Nash Youngren were the only two senior boys on the court this year.

"All of my seniors went to CIF. What more can you ask for?" Bill Lenaway said.

Hawkins and Hanlon had a May 25 first-round match against senior Kamaya Robles and sophomore Athenas Aceves of Brawley. The Fallbrook girls prevailed by an 8-5 margin.

The second round of girls doubles play May 26 pitted Hawkins and Hanlon against Canyon Crest sophomores Emily Belezzuoli and Cameron Lipschultz. Both of the Ravens players have a UTR of 4 while Hawkins and Hanlon both have a UTR of 2. Belezzuoli and Lipschultz took an 8-1 set over the Warriors.

"Carly and Sam did a pretty nice job in girls doubles," Lenaway said. "I was very proud of them."

Lenaway noted that his younger players learned that matches against more competitive opponents require more than having fun on the court. "A lot of times the younger kids kind of understood what I meant when I told them they have to play with intensity, they have to play with enthusiasm," he said.

Ethan Lenaway began play May 24 with an 8-3 win against Castle Park junior Keven Hernandez. "Ethan's first round was against a player he should have beat," Bill Lenaway said.

"In the second round he ran up against a kid who was just a better player," Lenaway said. "It was competitive. He just didn't finish out the games."

Ethan Lenaway has a UTR of 5. His second-round opponent May 26, Westview junior Jason Hu, has a UTR of 7. Hu won the 8-0 match.

Lenaway's first-round victory meant that two of the three Fallbrook seniors won a match in the tournament which concluded their high school careers. "I wanted my seniors to do well," Bill Lenaway said.

In the 2019 CIF tournament Ethan Lenaway also reached the second round of boys singles play.

Youngren was the only Fallbrook senior who did not advance past the first round. "Nash really had a tough match," Bill Lenaway said. "He drew a pretty good player."

Youngren, who has a UTR of 4, had a May 24 match against Serra freshman Edwin Hastings, whose UTR is 6. Hastings prevailed by an 8-0 score.

Lenaway noted that the match was closer than the score indicated. "They had long points. They had good points," he said. "The other kid had just a little bit more experience playing matches."

Youngren and Traut were a doubles team in the 2019 CIF tournament. They were defeated in the first round.

His academic status as a junior would have prevented Nolan Sim from advancing past the first round, since Sim had two advanced placement tests May 26. Had Sim, who has a UTR of 4, been close to winning his first-round match May 24 he likely would have defaulted so that his opponent would be able to play in the second round. Sim faced Monte Vista junior Alex Basar, whose UTR is 5.

"Nolan played a nice player," Lenaway said.

"He played a hard match," Lenaway said. "I think he tried to win."

Basar's 8-6 victory allowed both players to compete in a full match and solved Sim's schedule conflict.

"He ended up in a very close match," Lenaway said. "It was a super competitive match."

Sim played volleyball as a freshman and sophomore and made his tennis debut this year. "Just breaking into our singles lineup as a first-year player is pretty good," Lenaway said.

Sim also qualified for the CIF tournament as a first-year player. "How often does that happen?" Lenaway said. "I think he had a great season."

Both of Fallbrook's boys doubles tandems lost in the first round May 25. In a match with all four players having a UTR of 4, junior Daniel Winton and sophomore Joseph Tygert faced junior Diego Girault and sophomore Ethan Harrington of Coronado. Girault and Harrington won that 8-5 match.

"The match could have been closer," Lenaway said.

In the later rounds, two full sets were played potentially with a tie breaking game to 10 points if the sets were split. That was also the format for all rounds in past years when girls tennis and boys tennis have been played in separate seasons and the CIF tournament only has two divisions instead of five.

"In the eight game pro set, you don't have time to not hit the ground running," Lenaway said.

"They struggled," Lenaway said. "It's part of the experience of learning to play."

Winton and Tygert won the Valley League boys doubles championship but had one previous league tournament match. The coronavirus shutdown ended the 2020 boys season prior to the start of league play, so the 2021 league tournament was the first for Tygert. Winton played doubles in the 2019 league tournament and lost in the first round.

"One's a junior, one's a sophomore," Lenaway said. "I think they learned from the experience."

Fallbrook juniors Julian Cardenas and Angel Leon both have a UTR of 3. Torrey Pines juniors Cruz Purvis and Jaden Walker were a 17-20 seed; Walker has a UTR of 7 and Purvis has a UTR of 6.

"Somebody's got to play Torrey Pines in the first round, and it just happened to be them," Lenaway said.

Purvis and Walker won all eight games in the match. "They did the best they could, but they were just overmatched," Lenaway said.

Cardenas and Leon do not play in off-season tournaments. "I think them qualifying for CIF in general was a good achievement," Lenaway said.

"I was very pleased with our effort level," Lenaway said. "I was happy with our performance."

Fallbrook's tournaments this year also included the CIF team tournament. The Warriors reached the Division III championship match before being defeated by El Capitan in the final. Fallbrook had a 10-0 record in Valley League play to win the league championship.

"I really couldn't have hoped for a better outcome for the whole season," Lenaway said.

"We really had a very positive season," Lenaway said. "I just think the whole year was a breath of fresh air."

The delay in the resumption of CIF sports led to boys tennis and girls tennis being combined for 2020-21. "Anything that we're getting done is great for our tennis players," Lenaway said.

Ten of the 13 Warriors who played in the CIF tournament are expected to return to the teams next year. "I just don't see how that can't benefit the team next year," Lenaway said.

"I like our prospects in both boys and girls next year," Lenaway said. "I think we'll be competitive."

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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