Warrior netters start season 2-2

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

Fallbrook High School's boys tennis team began the 2022 season by splitting the Warriors' first four matches.

The Warriors opened play Feb. 17 with a 15-3 home win over Rancho Buena Vista, lost a 15-3 March 1 match at home against San Marcos, defeated Orange Glen by an 18-0 score March 2 in Escondido, and fell by a 15-3 margin March 3 at Poway.

Fallbrook has 10 players this year, so the Warriors have no junior varsity team. "The way it worked out this year is not horrible because I do get to focus on the 10 guys who will be playing, " said Fallbrook coach Bill Lenaway.

Only four of those players were on last year's team. The 2022 Warriors have three seniors.

Fallbrook's #1 singles player, junior Porter Niccum, is a transfer from Texas. The only singles player who was on the 2021 team, James Smith, is now a senior and is in the #2 singles position. The #3 singles player is freshman Connor Skaja.

The #1 doubles team consists of senior Daniel Winton and junior Joe Tygart, both of whom played last year. Fallbrook's #2 doubles tandem is senior Sam Grantham and sophomore Anthony Wilson. Two juniors, Ethan Ahrend and Chris Flores, are the #3 doubles partners.

Carl Maier is also on the team but hasn't yet played.

An injured hand kept Flores from participating in the Feb. 17 match, so Lenaway paired Skaja and Ahrend in doubles and defaulted the three #3 singles sets. Fallbrook won all 15 contested sets against RBV.

"RBV is a little bit down as far as boys go," Lenaway said.

The Fallbrook Union High School District gave students the entire week of Presidents' Day off, so the students had no matches or even practices. "That week just kind of messed us up, " Lenaway said.

San Marcos is a larger school than Fallbrook and is in a community with more of a tennis culture. "I wasn't displeased with the result," Lenaway said. "We played okay against them. We didn't get blown out anywhere."

All three of Fallbrook's points against Poway were in doubles sets. "Their singles lineup, though, is tough as nails," Lenaway said.

All three Poway singles players have a Universal Tennis Rating of 7 or better. "We got dominated in singles, " Lenaway said.

"My kids enjoyed playing those guys," Lenaway said. "Playing those teams early in the season will help us come league."