Advertisement

Girls tennis beats Division I power Carlsbad in tiebreaker win

Share

By Bill Tamburrino

Ramona High School’s girls tennis team opened the season with a 14-4 win over Clairemont High School and two days later beat Division I power Carlsbad by way of a tiebreaker.

The doubles teams won 8 of 9 team points in the Clairemont victory on Tuesday. Lauren Dunker and Rebecca Vaca went 6-0, 6-1 and 6-1.

Cassidy Owens and Danielle Vizcarra took three sets with scores of 6-2, 6-1 and 7-5. Alyssa Virgilio and Caroline Lopresti won two sets with scores of 3-6, 6-0 and 6-1.

Amanda Massey, Jessie Mosser and Megan Douglass each won two sets each in singles action. Massey went 1-6, 6-0 and 6-2, Mosser carded scores of 1-6, 6-0 and 6-0, and Douglass went 1-6, 6-0 and 6-2.

“I was pleased with the solid play of our returning letter winners and I was pleasantly surprised with the play of the newcomers to varsity competition,” said coach Matt McCormick after his initial win as the Lady Bulldog head coach.

McCormick was even happier with his team’s play against Carlsbad as the Bulldogs won a 9-9 match by besting 74 games to Carlsbad’s 72.

“Carlsbad is a Division I team that usually reaches the quarterfinals,” stated McCormick. “All of the girls played incredibly well including the debut of Jessica Failla at number one singles. She dominated her opponents.

“Lauren Dunker and Rebecca Vaca continued their dominance in doubles play by sweeping all three doubles teams. Beating their number three team 6-0 pushed us ahead in the overall game count and was critical in our victory. Jessie Mosser had a clutch win in number three singles to give us a 9-8 lead and ensured a tie in sets. Manda Massey played very tough and wore down the other girls and won three games to help seal the margin of victory. Cassidy Owens and Danielle Vizcarra won two sets by substantial margins and won four games in their only lost set. Caroline Lopresti, Alyssa Virgilio and Megan Douglass all played very tough and their final games ensured the win. This was most certainly a team victory that showed the value of every member of the team. The Lady Bulldogs were supported by a large crowd of family and friends.”

Massey, senior co-captain, played number one singles against Clairemont and played number two singles against Carlsbad.

Massey is a relative newcomer to the sport of tennis. After injuring her hamstring muscles trying out for the song team, she decided to give tennis a try.

“I took lessons from Greg and Katrina Failla and they encouraged me to try out for the team,” she said. “They were a big help in many ways.”

Massey tried out last season, made the varsity and earned a letter. She is a 4.36 student and wants to attend Arizona State University or University of Arizona. She wants to study law or medicine.

Regarding her main duties as a captain, she said, “I am there to help my teammates. If a player is having a bad game or practice, I have to encourage her to just hang in there and do her best and give it her all. We are a close knit team and we are always there to help one and other.”

Advertisement

At a time when local news is more important than ever, support from our readers is essential. If you are able to, please support the Ramona Sentinel today.