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Close loss to Warriors ends tennis league play

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Last year Ramona High School’s boys tennis team won the Valley League championship. This year Fallbrook finished on top of the Valley League standings and Ramona was third.

Ramona concluded league and regular-season play April 26 with a 10-8 loss at the Fallbrook Tennis Club.

“We were pretty close to beating them,” said coach Rose Darrough.

One of the sets that gave Fallbrook a point toward the win was tied at six games apiece before the Warriors doubles team won the tie-breaking game. Fallbrook won two other doubles sets by 6-4 margins.

“Those could have gone either way,” Darrough said. “My guys played really well.”

Ramona won five of the nine singles sets at Fallbrook while the Warriors won six of the nine doubles sets.

“We were very competitive,” Darrough said. “Considering I’ve got five guys who just picked up a racquet in February, that’s pretty good.”

Ramona sophomore Brandan Ruland won all three of his sets in Fallbrook.

“Brandan played amazing. He demolished their No. 1 player 6-0,” Darrough said.

Cody Crenshaw, who is the only freshman on this year’s Ramona varsity, was 2-1 in singles play.

“He’s one of the kids who never picked up a racquet,” Darrough said.

Kellen Rolling and Tristan Wall won two of their doubles sets against the Warriors, and their loss was one of the 6-4 sets. Alessio Macias and Chris Murgueia had Ramona’s other doubles win with their losses being by 7-6 and 6-4 margins.

Fallbrook concluded league competition with a 5-1 record. Valley Center was 3-3 in Valley League play. Had Ramona defeated the Warriors in the league finale, the Bulldogs would have had a share of second place. Ramona settled for a 2-4 league mark.

“My won-loss record is not going to show it as a success, but my guys improved a lot,” Darrough said.

Fallbrook traveled to the Riviera Oaks courts in Ramona for an April 18 match and prevailed by a 12-6 score.

“It was just really a good season in a lot of ways,” Darrough said. “For how much time they’d put into the sport, they did very well.”

Darrough was pleased with the improved skills her players acquired during the season.

“It was phenomenal,” she said. “I wish we would have had another month in the season. We would have been in the hunt.”

The players’ attitude was another positive aspect of the season for Darrough.

“They just wanted to learn and all they wanted to do was just play and improve,” she said.

The Ramona squad will return to the Fallbrook Tennis Club for the May 9-12 Valley League individual tournament. The singles and doubles players who advance far enough in the league tournament will compete in the following week’s CIF individual tournament at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego.

“I’m just hoping we can get a lot of kids qualified to play in that CIF tournament,” Darrough said.

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