Warriors win first three boys tennis matches of 2017

Fallbrook High School's boys tennis season began with three Warriors home matches, and coach Bill Lenaway's squad was victorious in all three of those.

The Warriors opened their season Feb. 28 with a 10-8 win over El Camino and followed that triumph with an 11-7 victory against Rancho Buena Vista and a 16-2 win over Orange Glen.

"We have a lot of seniors this year, so we were hoping to get a good strong start," Lenaway said.

Seven of the 10 varsity players are in twelfth grade this year. Last year the Warriors' only senior was John David Lopez.

"We only graduated one guy," said Lenaway. "We've got eight out of nine back."

The only completely new player to the team is senior Jason Hanlon, who is in his first year of high school tennis and is currently the Warriors' substitute. Jimmy Johnson, who is one of the doubles players, was on Lenaway's roster in the past but not in 2016.

Lopez split time between singles and doubles last year. Fallbrook's No. 1 singles player, Riley Lenaway, is a senior this year. The Warriors' No. 2 singles player, Declan Harrison, is also a 2017 senior. When Lopez played doubles Brett Johnson, who is a junior this year, was often Fallbrook's No. 3 singles player.

Fallbrook's doubles players are seniors Max Alperstein, Casey Eich, Erik Garcia, and Jimmy Johnson, and juniors Drew Mings and Stephen Shedd.

"Right now I'm playing with doubles trying to see who I want to be with who for the important part of the season," said Bill Lenaway.

Non-league results will have an impact on seeding in the CIF playoffs, although for Lenaway the focus is on the Valley League dual meet and tournament seasons as well as the CIF team and individual tournaments.

Last year Fallbrook and Valley Center shared the Valley League

championship. Ramona finished third in 2016 after winning the 2015 league title. Escondido and San Pasqual are new to the Valley League this year while Orange Glen has left the league.

Riley Lenaway won all nine of his sets during the season's first week of play. Fallbrook won four singles sets and six doubles sets against El Camino and prevailed in seven singles sets and four doubles sets in the match with Rancho Buena Vista.

"In close matches it's been kind of a little more spread out between singles and doubles," Bill Lenaway said.

Last year Fallbrook was stronger in singles than in doubles, so this year's doubles performance to date has been an improvement over 2016.

"We have a winning record in doubles right now," Lenaway said. "We're just looking forward to a good strong season with these seniors. I'm just hoping that they have a good experience."