EAGLES FACE FIRST DEFEAT TO COAST–April 15.
The Eagles traveled to Cambria to play against the Coast Union Broncos April 15. FC came up short, losing 4-5. They still remain undefeated in league being that this was a non-league game.

Although it was discouraging to lose their first match, Coach Rob Foshee says that a loss can teach you more than a win.

“Sometimes in losses you can get exposed to the things you need to work on,” Foshee said. “It helps us figure out how to prepare for the next couple stretches of games and hopefully it helps us to get ready for playoff matches.”

The Eagles will next face Dos Palos at home April 26.

FC DEFEATS REDCATS–April 14.
The Eagles came out triumphant over the Fowler Redcats beating them 8-1, April 14.

No. 1 partners Brady Lee, ’12, and Brandon Porter, ’13, played a lengthy match that went to deuce point multiple times. They were leading by a few games but then Fowler came back and took the lead. FC forced the game to a tie-breaker and squeezed out a win, 7-7,(7-3).

Lee talks about the benefit of playing in a pressure filled game.

“It was a good game for us because it gave us the experience of playing under pressure,” Lee said. It will better prepare us for the more strenuous playoff games we will play in the future.”

The Eagles will be playing their third game of this week in Cambria. This will be Freshman Tyler Laird’s first year of participating in the coast trip. He looks forward to it, saying, ” I think it will be fun, and a team building experience.”

The Eagles will next travel Cambria to play the Coast Union Broncos, April 15.

EAGLES DEFEAT BLUE RAIDERS FOR SECOND TIME–April 12.
FC played Caruthers for the second time this season and beat them 8-1, April 12. The Eagles are currently undefeated in league.

Junior Jacob Williams, who plays No 5. singles, won his match 8-1. Williams attributes his tennis improvement to practice. He felt he played well all of the games but one.

“I’m one of the types that the more I play, the better I get,” Williams said. “I felt I did pretty good that match. I did really bad the game I lost, but other than that, I did really good.”

Head coach Rob Foshee feels his team was able to work on aspects of their game that they needed to improve on.

“I think our top four singles got some really good work in trying to improve as they go,” Foshee said. “Actually, we have gotten better. I think Caruthers has gotten better.”

Foshee knows that it may be a challenge to face tough opponents after the lull of Easter vacation. On the other hand, he feels like it will be a good thing that his team can rest up their bodies.

“The hard part is going to be the layoff of Easter and then coming back to play tough matches,”Foshee said. “It’s probably good physically just to rest too. Jesus rose so we can take the break and enjoy it.”

The Eagles will next face the Folwer Redcats on the road, April 14.

FC VS. FIREBAUGH CANCELED A SECOND TIME–April 7.
Due to the rain, the Eagles’ game against Firebaugh was canceled and the rescheduled date is May 2.

The Eagles will next face the Caruthers Blue Raiders at home, April 12.

FC DEFEATS RIVERDALE ON THE ROAD-April 5.
The Eagles had their most successful win of the season, beating the Riverdale Cowboys 10-0, April 7.

The Eagles’ No. 2 singles player, Seth Ramirez, ’11, enjoyed the camaraderie of facing an opponent he played against over the summer. Ramirez ended up winning the match 8-0.

“I felt very relaxed and it helped me play because I had known the opponent beforehand from summer ball,” Ramirez said. “I knew the way he played and what to expect. It made the atmosphere pretty fun because we are kind of like friends.”

Head Coach Rob Foshee shares his thoughts on where he thinks his team is in the overall structure of the season.

“I think there is three parts of the season: preseason, then you have the meat of league and then you have playoffs,” Foshee said. “I think we kind of closed out the first part of the season and we are ready to hit the second part of the season. I think we played some good matches now, and now we are going to compete against the first round of other teams.”

FC will next travel to face the Firebaugh Eagles, April 7.

FC PROVES VICTORIOUS AGAINST FOWLER-March 31.
The Eagles went head to head with the Fowler Redcats and won 8-1, March 31.

Coach Rob Foshee says his team is improving and playing well for not playing many pre-season games.

“I think we are improving where we need to go,” Foshee said. “We didn’t get a pre-season but this is kind of like our pre-season now. Fowler was good, there was a lot of athletic people on the team. We will just keep building on this and getting ready for next week. Hopefully the younger ones will come along and the older ones will keep developing the little things they need to fix.”

Junior Jonathan Passmore currently plays No. 6 singles for the FC. He had the longest match of the day and he eventually had to play in a tie breaker. Passmore eventually lost 7-8, (5-7).

“Sometimes I would get a little too excited about getting the return and I would hit it so far that it would go out,” Passmore said. “I think I did alright especially with the serves because I kept the serves in consistently.”

This is Passmore’s first year of playing team tennis. He shares his feelings in playing in his first tie breaker match.

“I was pretty nervous but I tried not to think about it,” Passmore said. “I just tried to focus on just get one point at a time. I tried not to look at the game as a whole like I did last time.”

The Eagles will next play the Riverdale Cowboys on the road, April 5.

EAGLES DEFEAT CARUTHERS-March 29.
FC went on the road to play their second game of the season against the Caruthers Blue Raiders, March 29. This was the Eagles first league game of the year. FC came out on top, winning 7-2.

Sophomore Brandon Porter lost his singles match but came back to win doubles with partner Brady Lee, ’12. Porter, who plays No.3 singles and No.1 doubles, shares his thoughts on his losing his first match.

“I didn’t play as well as I could have in singles,” Porter said. “I think I made a lot of bad mistakes that I could have easily prevented. There’s always a doubles match which is nice. You have a second chance in your doubles match.”

Porter says he enjoys playing doubles more than singles because he can rely on his partner and he likes the teamwork.

“In my doubles match I thought I did really well,” Porter said. “Once we get the momentum going, and get a couple games under our belt, we get more comfortable. What’s nice about doubles is that you always have your other teammate to rely on, in singles it’s all on you.”

Head Coach Rob Foshee views the overall match as good preparation for future competition. He is already looking towards one of their toughest opponents of their season, Dos Palos. Although the Eagles defeated Dos Palos twice last year, Foshee says they are a different team

“I thought it was a good building point,” Foshee said. “Dos Palos is going to be a pretty tough opponent. They beat Caruthers 8-1. We played them last year when they were young, and they are playing good tennis this year. It was great to get a win but we need to continue getting better.”

The Eagles will next face the Fowler Redcats at home, March 31.

FC VS. FIREBAUGH CANCELED–March 26.
Due to the rain, the Eagles’ game against Firebaugh was canceled and the rescheduled date is April 7.

The Eagles will next face Caruthers on the road, March 29.

EAGLES WIN FIRST GAME AGAINST COAST UNION–MARCH 18
The skies were bleak and showed signs of rain as the Eagles faced off with their first opponent of the season, the Coast Union Broncos, March 18. No drops fell from the sky, but the Eagles rained down on the Broncos, defeating them 6-3.

Nervousness was in the air as the young Eagles began their matches. For many, it was their first time playing at a high school level. The Broncos made the three hour drive from Cambria to meet the Eagles on their home court. The teams played standard 8 game pro-sets with no add. They played both singles and doubles matches.

The Eagles team consists of five freshmen, one sophomore, three juniors and two seniors. Rob Foshee is returning as FC’s head coach.

Foshee says he liked what he saw during the match. He knows there are definitely aspects that the team needs to improve on, but it was good first experience.

“I thought it was a great learning experience for our first match,” Foshee said. “We have a lot of stuff to practice on. I liked seeing the older guys get their feet wet again and the younger guys get their first taste of high school tennis.”

Foshee feels that the younger players will prove to be a big help by taking pressure off the older players to win all of their matches. He comments on how the younger players did overall.

“I thought they stepped up and played really well,” Foshee said. “I think as they get more experience they are going to help out the older guys by taking pressure off of them to win their matches. Last year we had to win every singles match with the numbers we had. This year I think our top four singles don’t have to be perfect and win every match.”

Junior Brady Lee won his singles match 8-4. Lee, who plays the No. 1 singles, comments on the unity of their team.

“I think our team has good chemistry on and off the court,” Lee said.” “The day of the match we woke up early and met for doughnuts. I think our team will continue to bond as the season goes on.”

Freshmen Daniel Moore and Eric Cowin played doubles together. Their game eventually went into a tie breaker and won 8-3. Moore shares his thoughts on the game.

“I was kind of frustrated after I double- faulted a couple times, but other than that it was a lot of fun,” Moore said. “I want to do a lot more of those matches.”

Moore’s partner, Eric Cowin, shares his feelings playing in his first high school match.

“It was quite an experience playing in my first game as a freshman,” Cowin said. “I am really pumped up for the next game, and I am looking forward to seeing them next year.”

Cowin realizes that tennis is a mental game. He says the best thing you can do is to stay positive, even when you are losing.

“A lot of the times you can get your hopes down, but the best part of it, to get a successful game, is keeping them up.”

The Eagles will next play a home match against Firebaugh, March 24.