The regular season for girls’ tennis has come to an end, and Great Oak finished at the top, claiming this year’s Southwestern League title. Led by No. 1 singles player Victoria Herrera and the No. 1 doubles team of Ava Flanagan and Ashlyn McGreevy, head coach Ray Fisher will now look to prepare his teams for the league finals, which will be taking place this week.
“This year’s team, albeit young, fought for every point all year long,” Fisher said. “Victoria Herrera is a warrior. Tennis is all about heart and the tougher the situation, the better Victoria plays.”
Claire Maxey and Kaitlyn Riddell are Fisher’s No. 2 doubles team and look to be top contenders at the finals. Overall Great Oak finished 16-3, and 8-2 in the Southwestern League, losing once to Vista Murrieta and once to Murrieta Valley.
“They found a way to win crucial matches throughout the season, many times coming from behind to win under pressure,” Fisher said. “All of our girls did an excellent job of focusing during their close matches and they are not afraid to lose, we want to win and will battle all day long to get a victory.”
The 2022 roster consists of Kaitlyn Riddell (11), Claire Maxey (12), Victoria Herrera (10), Ava Flanagan (10), Nimita Raghuwanshi (12), Brooke Curtis (10), Anastasia Pratt (12), Kaitlyn Wu (12), Ashlyn McGreevy (10), Samantha Huang (9), Sofia Ziani (12), Abigail Tadesse (12), Laura Faeth (10), Kaela Vallejo (10) and Chloe Lee (9).
“I have coached a long time and I had more talented teams, but I have seldom had a group of kids that cared about each other as much and will fight to win matches as hard as these girls do,” Fisher added. “I am very proud of this team.”
The Southwestern League finals will take place mid-week at Temecula Valley High School for the first two rounds, and then at the Murrieta Tennis Club Friday, Oct. 28. Both days the start time is set for 11 a.m. Brackets for the CIF Southern Section postseason tournament will be live Monday, Oct. 31, at 11 a.m.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
