Bulldogs share Valley League girls tennis title with Mission Hills

Ramona High Schools girls tennis team is sharing the 2022 Valley League championship.

The league season ended Oct. 13, when Mission Hills defeated Ramona on the Riviera Oaks courts. Each team won nine sets, but the Grizzlies were given the match Victory on the tiebreaking criteria of games won. Ramona finished with a 9-1 league record, including the loss, while Mission Hills was also 9-1.

Im super proud of the girls, said Ramona Coach Troy Romero.

Ramona and Mission Hills both took 4-0 league records into the match with each other Sept. 27 in San Marcos. In the first round of play each school won three sets. (In a high school tennis match each of a teams three singles players has a set against each of the other teams three singles players while each of a schools three doubles tandems faces each opponent duo. One point is given for a set won.)

Mission Hills won four of the six sets during the second round. Because the Grizzlies had won more games during those 12 sets, Ramona would need to win five of the six sets in the third round to obtain the Victory for the match.

They all gathered together, Romero said. They came out and they won five out of six and won 10 to 8. It was a Spectacular win.

The final set to be completed Sept. 27 involved the Ramona doubles team of Sophia Scalise and Isa Wilson. They trailed five games to four in their set before winning three games for their second 7-5 Victory of the day. The Bulldogs won six doubles sets and four singles sets Sept. 27.

The second round of league play began Sept. 29. For Ramona, that was a 14-4 triumph at Fallbrook High School. The Bulldogs followed that with a 13-5 home win Oct. 4 against Valley Center, a 13-5 Victory Oct. 6 at San Pasqual, and a 17-1 win Oct. 11 at Escondido.

Mission Hills senior Chelsea Johnson did not play in the Sept. 27 matches. She was 18-1 in Valley League sets prior to the Oct. 13 Showdown at Ramona with Fallbrook junior Angie Palmerin taking a 6-4 Victory Sept. 22.

During the regular season there is no requirement that the designation of the #1, #2, and #3 singles and doubles players be based on their Universal Tennis Rating. Mission Hills Coach Dave Lavine based his lineup against Ramona not on UTR data but on a strategy which would cause Ramona’s top players to play their toughest sets early.

Mission Hills organized their team well, Romero said. They really thought through the way it would work best, and it paid off for them.

Ramona junior Hannah Ferguson gave Johnson her second league loss of the year in a 6-4 set. In the second round, Ferguson obtained a 6-4 victory against Amanyi Gibbs.

Hannah had to have two Brutal matches before she played Sofia, Romero said.

Sofia Echeverria handed Ferguson a 6-1 loss in the third round. The defeat gave Ferguson a 27-2 record in league sets (Palmerin was responsible for Ferguson’s other loss), and it also gave Mission Hills the team point.

Ramona sophomore Emma Kaufman in a recent match with the Ramona girls tennis team. The team is sharing the 2022 Valley League Championship with Mission Hills.

(Sharon Ferguson)

Ferguson’s two wins were the only singles points Ramona obtained in the match. Emma Kaufman lost all three sets although the score against Gibbs was 7-5 and the Ramona sophomore had an early lead in the set. Aly Turpin-Coronado, who was honored during the Oct. 13 Senior Night ceremonies along with Scalise, also lost three sets.

Scalise and Wilson, who is a junior, won all three of their sets on Oct. 13, giving them a 29-0 league record.

They never lost. Thats pretty impressive, Romero said.

Ramonas other two doubles tandems, sophomores Eleanor Bleakley and Katherine Buonaugurio and sophomores Caylei Crews and Katie Dusseault, each won two sets with both taking a 6-3 loss to Se Ri McMahon and Darcy Gibbens.

Each team won three sets in the first round and Ramona prevailed in four of the six contests during the second round. With the Grizzlies holding the games won advantage Ramona needed three wins in the final round. Ramona won two of those, and the 9-9 tie gave Mission Hills the victory over the Grizzlies 80-70 advantage in games.

You want to say 9-0-1. Its a shame that somebody has to lose, Romero said.

In terms of head-to-head competition, Ramona had the advantage.

We beat them 10-8. They beat us 9-9, Romero said. Were calling ourselves co-champs.

The designated league Champion receives an automatic home match in the CIF team playoffs, which will begin Oct. 24 for any required play-in matches. The team selection and seeding meeting will take place Oct. 22.

Romero said he is willing to take a lower seed in the Division II playoffs, as the Bulldogs are on the Bubble between Division II and Division III (team playoff divisions and seedings are based on cumulative UTR).

If you were in Division II that’s okay. It means they were improving, they said.

The Bulldogs will take a 14-4 overall dual match record into the CIF playoffs.