Ramona bests Brawley in tennis

Ramona High School’s tennis team could only schedule one match during what was Spring Break for many schools last week. Ramona’s Spring Break is this week.

The Dawgs beat Brawley at Riviera Oaks Resort 11-7. Cameron Ruland continued to dominate as he posted near perfect scores of 6-1, 6-0 and 6-0 as Ramona’s number one singles player.

Ted Gallagher went 0-6. Daniel Streeter went 2-6 and Nick Brierton went 0-6 as all three played against Brawley’s number two player, Robert Dominguez.

Andrew Rivera went 1-6, 0-6 and 1-6 in the number three singles spot.

“Tyler Davidson was out with a shoulder injury, so that allowed Andrew Rivera and Nicholas Brierton to see some action in the varsity match,” said Ramona coach Doug Failla.

Since Brawley did not bring a junior varsity team, it gave Rivera and Brierton some court time before the spring layoff.

Ramona picked up 8 of 9 points in doubles action to ensure the victory. John Shupe and Tyler McDonald won three sets by turning in scores of 6-1, 6-1 and 6-1 in the number one doubles slot.

Garrett Hatch and Chris Bowersox won 3 team points in the number two doubles spot by posting scores of 7-5, 6-4 and 6-4. Chris Page and Liam picked up 2 team points by going 5-7, 6-3 and 6-3.

“Cameron Ruland continues to be on a roll in singles play,” said Failla. “John Shupe and Tyler McDonald won all three sets in an impressive fashion. Garrett Hatch and Chris Bowersox hung in there to win three very close sets. These were the key sets along with Chris Page and Liam Swan winning two of three sets.”

Ramona is 5-5 overall and 2-2 in Valley League play.

“We are at the halfway point of the season, and our team continues to improve,” said Failla. “We are on track to peak at the right time, the CIF playoffs in May.”