The Nipomo girls tennis program bid a fond farewell to six graduated seniors from the underdog 2022 squad that made it to the semifinals of the CIF Central Section Division 3 playoffs.
Now, “We’ve got some big shoes to fill for sure, but we think we can fill those holes,” left by the graduated seniors, said Nipomo sophomore singles player Alice Deutsch.
Deutsch is one of a core of second-year varsity players the Titans will have this season, along with junior Caitlyn Scott, and sophomores Abigail Danley and Charlotte Slater. Another sophomore, Olivia Juarez, was a top player on the 2022 Nipomo junior varsity who has worked into the 2023 varsity rotation.
“With the numbers we have, some of our junior varsity players from last year will be on the varsity this year,” Scott said during a fall pre-season team workout.
The players who form the core of the 2023 Nipomo varsity squad did pretty well in the team’s season opener. The Titans scored an 8-1 win at Pioneer Valley last Thursday.
Playing under a new Ocean League format of doubles matches first, the Nipomo tandems of Deutsch and Scott at No. 1, Slater and Danley at No. 2, and Juarez and Chesney Missamore at No. 3 swept the doubles matches.
Scott won 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 2 singles match. Deutsch, at No. 1, Slater at No. 3, Alie Camacho at No. 4 and Danley at No. 5 also won their singles matches in straight sets.
Juarez was a singles player for the Nipomo JV last year. “I’ve been playing this summer, and it’s gone pretty well,” she said during a pre-season workout. Playing doubles last Thursday, she made her varsity debut a success.
“We are very excited for our girls’ season,” said veteran Nipomo coach Teresa Downey. “We have 21 girls that have come out to play, with 11 back from last season.
“It looks like we will have varsity and JV teams this year,” Downey said during a fall pre-season workout. “Our girls program here at NHS is really taking off, and we are happy there are new girls wanting to learn this game of tennis, which is a sport I love and enjoy teaching.”
Danley and Slater played some No. 3 doubles for the varsity last year. “There were some tight, important matches last year that doubles got us through,” said Scott.
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“Doubles went pretty well for Abigail and me last year,” said Slater. “We had good chemistry from the start. It helped that we had some different skills.”
Danley said, “It helped that we’ve known each other since we were four years old. Charlotte was the baseline player. I played at the net.”
Scott played doubles last year with the graduated Ashley Dickinson.
“I’ll be playing singles this year,” said Scott. “If they ever need another doubles player, I’m available. We’ll see how it goes.”
Nipomo had a solid showing behind first-place Lompoc in the Ocean League last season then was seeded No. 12 for the playoffs. The Titans won 5-4 at No. 5 Coalinga in the first round and 5-4 at No. 4 Kingsburg in the quarterfinals before falling 5-4 at No. 1 Kerman in the semis.
No. 10 Lompoc beat Kerman 5-4 to win the Division 3 championship.
Now, the current Nipomo players will seek to fill the void left by the graduated seniors.
“The seniors set a good example last year, and the team has good chemistry,” said Scott. “(The graduated) seniors left a good impression, that’s for sure.”
