Warrior tennis finishes league undefeated

Fallbrook High School’s girls tennis team not only won the Avocado League championship but also posted an undefeated league season.

The October 26 victory against Oceanside gave the Warriors a 10-0 Avocado League record along with a 15-3 overall mark.

“We basically dominated,” said Fallbrook coach Dave Ramirez. “It’s been very, very exciting for our girls.”

The Warriors’ three losses came to Rancho Bernardo, Torrey Pines, and Great Oak, and the Great Oak loss involved each team winning nine sets and the Temecula school winning the tiebreaker on games. The closest any league opponent came to the Warriors was when Vista won six sets in an October 24 match against Fallbrook.

“Even those sets that we lost were very, very close. They could have gone either way,” Ramirez said.

Fallbrook had faced Vista on October 5 and won that match at Vista by a 15-3 score.

Sophomore Roxanne Parker won all 30 of her sets in league competition, and the doubles team of senior Mallory Wedeking and junior Angela Maddock also went 30-0 in league play. Freshman Brittany Doehring was 25-5 in her league matches while senior Jennifer Doehring went 23-7 during league competition. Fallbrook’s other two doubles teams, one comprised of juniors Spencer Spagnuola and Ashley Dirrigo and the other consisting of freshman Michaela Johnson and senior Maggie Dietering, each went 23-7 against league opposition.

“It’s just awesome,” Ramirez said.

Wedeking, Jennifer Doehring, and Dietering are the only three seniors on the squad. “They’re very, very good leaders for our team,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez believes that the attitude of the younger players also contributed to the team’s success. “They respond to direction,” he said.

Ramirez feels that this year he has been more successful than in the past in terms of communicating with his players at the necessary level. “I think I’ve improved as a coach,” he said.