Womens tennis team strives to defend title
By Hector Trujillo
After an up and down start to the season, the Scripps Ranch High School womens varsity tennis team will look to defend its CIF-SDS Girls Tennis Team Division 1 Championship starting on Oct. 24.
Despite the fact that the team no longer has seven seniors from last year, the Falcons have managed to remain competitive throughout and hope to find their stride once playoffs arrive.
“We had a big win against La Jolla High School and that was great. They beat us the first time,” said head coach Karyn McCartney.
The first match between the two schools was in the season opener on Sept. 13. Scripps Ranch got its revenge at home on Sept. 29, winning 80-72 in games.
The 2022 regular season has seen the Falcons take on five schools including Cathedral Catholic, Patrick Henry, Point Loma, Academy of Our Lady of Peace and La Jolla, rotating between home and away matches.
“This is sort of a rebuild year,” McCartney said. “I have a very positive group of girls. They try hard and they fight. We’re right in the middle and that’s what happens when you have a rebuild year.”
This is McCartney’s second season at the helm after leading the team to its first tennis championship in 28 years. The third-seeded Scripps Ranch defeated the top-seeded Vincent Memorial High School from Calexico in the final held at Barnes Tennis Center in Ocean Beach.
“The best part of it is the kids,” McCartney said. “Getting to know them and knowing what they’re about. We work hard together and we figure it out to be the best players that we can be.”
McCartney played four years at Tustin High School before moving on to Orange Coast College where she earned the number 1 ranking in the state.
Among the standout players so far this season for Scripps Ranch are junior Shreya Bharath and senior
Shivanshi Sharma. Both were instrumental in last year’s title run.
The league individual matches kicked off on Oct. 17 and will conclude on Oct. 22. CIF team playoffs will start a couple days later, concluding on Oct. 29. CIF individual competitions go from Nov. 1 to 5, with CIF State Regionals taking place Nov. 18 and 19.
