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A note from Coach Bowman
Last week we played against Villanova Preparatory school in Ojai, California. The final score was Fillmore 3, Villanova 10. I was hoping for a cloudy day as the “weatherman” had promised. It was hot like Fillmore. I encouraged the girls to hydrate before and after they played a set of tennis. On that day, the players who were accustomed to playing singles, were playing doubles and vice-versa. Do the players get nervous when all of the sudden they have no partner as in doubles? Probably. In singles, they learn to rely on themselves to face their opponent; to be independent. They have been practicing and training for months for these events. Playing doubles matches is also good as learning to communicate will make a better team in the long run. By the way, I have been told by an observer that the players on Fillmore High school tennis team look “fit,”as other teams slow down in the end and look tired. Good work girls!

Submitted by Coach Tanya Gonzales

Thursday September 28th FHS Girls Volleyball hosted Bishop Diego High School. Final scores Frosh 25-11, 25-14, JV 25-23 and 25-17, Varsity lost in 4, 25-23, 18-25, 17-25, and 18-25. Standout players were; Dezeray Zavala with 16 digs and 5 kills, Tori Gonzales had 22 assists, 3 aces, 7 kills and Kasey Crawford had 1 ace, 13 digs, and 7 kills.

Tuesday October 3rd the girls took on Carpinteria, Frosh won 19-25, 26-24, and 15-7 Despite inconsistent serving we had Ashley Yepez keep the serves in and we managed to pull off some great plays. JV won 25-19, 24-26, and 18-16 We had a number of great plays and pulled together as a team to gain the win. April Lizarraga had some strong hits and Alexis Sanchez did great with serving, once again.

Varsity lost 22-25, 27-29, and 13-25. It was a hard fought battle at the start. Dezeray Zavala kept the other team on their toes with excellent serving (6 aces out of 25 total serves) she also had 12 digs and 2 kills, Kasey Crawford had 14 digs and 4 kills and kept a number of hits in play, and Tori Villegas had 9 serves in, 6 kills, and 3 assists.

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A note from Coach Bowman.

As I am entering my second year of coaching tennis I would like to share some of the questions about the game that “come up” during the season. “Coach, can my opponent reach over the net with the tennis racket after they strike the ball? Is a player allowed to stand so close to the net?” Here is the rule as far as I know; Imagine a player (a doubles player in this image) standing very close to the net. A ball is hit to this player (the player standing close to the net) and a volley stroke is returned. When this player finishes her volley stroke, the stroke of the racket is completed over the net (because she was initially standing very close to the net) on the opposite side of the tennis court. Is this legal? Yes, it is legal as long as the volleyer did not strike the net when the stroke was completed. In addition, if the volleyer strikes the ball before it enters her side of the court, it is illegal. In other words, a tennis ball must reach the other side of the net before it is struck by the opponent. This makes sense. Lastly, if a player strikes the net at any time during play, the point belongs to the opposing player or team.

More and more frequently during these competitions, the players are asking more and more questions as they compete against other teams. They are becoming confident as they stop the game to “find the coach” as conflicts or questions arise during a set of tennis. My favorite question of the year is, “Coach, can they sing during a set of tennis?” No! That is distracting and or an impolite strategy on the court. Words that can be spoken to your partner are for example, “yours,” mine,” and “get back.” Other necessary communicative words are acceptable. When an opponent or team is intentionally distracting by singing an opera song, then it is time to call “time out” and “find the coach.” There will be more stories stranger than this during the season, l.o.l.

Changing the topic from rules of the game to our actual competition taking place, we competed against Santa Clara on September 28, and lost 7-11. Do not be disillusioned by this score, for the girls tennis team is pretty remarkable. Speaking of remarkableness, Maria Gonzalez, a new player for this year, took up the challenge of playing singles during this competition. She played a total of three sets, one set against the number one, two, and three player. She was competitive and she was out there to win! Maria came very close to beating the number one player for Santa Clara as the score 4-6, could have gone either way. I was thrilled as a coach to see her determination. Next time Maria! During this match against Santa Clara, the team had some great wins along with hard to swallow losses. This means, to me as a coach, that they are getting more and more confident out there on the court with the drive to play their personal best. We will compete this week against Laguna Blanca, and Villanova. All for now.

Submitted by Coach Tony Hernandez

U-11 Girls. The California United team came out looking confident and disciplined this last week versus Morelia which paid off with a 3-0 win. It was a great team effort with goals by Marlene Gonzales, Athena Sanchez and Kari Terrazas while Ashley Hernandez had an assist. As we’ve come to expect from this defense there were no goals scored as Gaby Martinez and Mikayla McKenzie shared time at goalkeeper. Current record 4-0-0.

U-12 Boys. This was a hard fought game the whole way through with California United edging out VC Galaxy in a 1-0 victory. The defense faced a tough challenge throughout the entire game, but they stepped up and held on to the shut out with some great goalie work along the way. The lone goal, and game winner, was scored by Oscar Fuentes for California United. Current Record 4-0-0.

U-13 Girls. Lots of scoring going on in this shoot out against The Pumas that ended in a 4-4 tie. The top California United scorer for the day was Valeria Jaimes with 2 goals while Isabella Regalado and Emily Garcia each had 1. Isabella also added 2 assists while Emily and Daisy Murillo had 1 assist each.

On Wednesday, Fillmore Cross Country teams traveled to El Camino Real Park in Ventura to compete against 11 boys teams and 12 girl teams who along with Fillmore comprise the Tri-County Athletic Association. This meet along with two other league meets will determine league champions and which teams will represent TCAA in the Division 4 CIF Southern Section Prelims on November 10th in Riverside.

The first race of the day was the Junior Varsity boys. Fillmore’s Jonathan Ordaz won this race running from the front in a time of 17:05.9, he was followed by Davis Flores 6th in 17:41.2, Jesse De la Cruz 9th in 17:50.09, Fabian Del Villar 12th in 18:05.55, Jesus Martinez 17th in 18:19.27, Alexander Recancoj 30th in 19:09.22, Matthew Munoz 35th in 19:24.25, Eric Hernandez 38th in 19:47.03, Luis Leon 52nd in 20:11.20, Joseph Magdaleno 55th in 20:15.45, David Bustos 56th in 20:19.53, Andrew Otineru 63rd in 20:53.13, Daniel Cruz 67th in 21:06.94, Samuel Kafka 74th in 21:36.41, and Erick Gutierrez 75th in 21:37.87. In the team competition Fillmore finished in second place behind Foothill Technology.

The second race of the day the Varsity girls featured the number 2 ranked team in Division 4 CIF Southern Section, the Foothill Technology Dragons. True to form the Dragons won the team competition, scoring an impressive low point total of 21 points. Fillmore finished second in the team competition. They were led by Carissa Rodriguez who finished in 3rd place recording a finishing time of 19:09.62, she was followed by Vanessa Avila 8th in 19:35.92, Diana Perez 10th in 19:39.77, Giselle Perez 20th in 21:26:21, Cecilia Cisneros 24th in 21:51.27, and Allison Recancoj in 22:07.56. Fillmore’s 2 through 6 runners improved last year's time on this course.

The third race of the day, featured 2nd place CIF D4 ranked Foothill Technology, and 3rd place CIF D3 ranked Thacher. Foothill won this race with Thacher placing second. Fillmore followed in 3rd and was led by Jesus “Chuy” Castro. This was Chuy’s first time leading the Fillmore squad placing 7th overall in 16:30.5. He was followed by Everardo Garcia Magana 10th in 16:34.1, Michael Sanchez 11th in 16:37.31, Sergio Perez 16th in 17:05.96, Rey Andres Laureano 21st 17:24.43 and Antonio Villalobos 51st in 19:06.05. The top 5 Fillmore runner on the day were separated by an excellent gap of under one minute, 35.46 seconds.

The final race of the day was the Girls Junior Varsity. They finished in 2nd behind winners , Foothill Technology. They were led by Nicole Gonzalez who finished in 10th in 21:37.9. She was followed by Arielle Estrada 12th in 21:49.8, Emma Orozco 18th in 22:21.54, Jacqueline Ruiz 22nd in 23:02.22, Lorena Izarraras 23:32.91, Michelle Reyes 26th in 23:40.03, Yakeline Magana 28th in 23:59.99, Sandra Murillo 50th in 25:50.20, Liliana Felix 54th in 26:21.78, Eva Vieyra 65th in 27:33.05, Emma Ortiz 73rd in 29:00.12, and Marisol Ramos 74th in 29:05.18.

The Flashes will next compete on Saturday 9/30 in Portland, Oregon at the Portland Invite. Fillmore's next TCAA meet will be on October 12th at Elkins Golf Course at 4:00 P.M.

Part of the great CU defense, Isabel Hernandez (left) and Mikayla McKenzie as Brooke Nunez (middle) takes it back the other way. Photo courtesy Evelia Hernandez.
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California United player Ivan Espino sets up the play on the sideline versus a lone Torino defender. Photo courtesy Irma Espino.
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Submitted By Coach Tony Hernandez

Through three weeks now, the California United Futbol Club continues its unbeaten streak and impressive combined record of 8-0-0 to start the winter season.

U11-Girls - This California United team took on the Oxnard Nacional team in a 1-0 win. Scoring was at a premium as the California United team had plenty of opportunities, but just as many near misses. Marlene Gonzales was able to connect on the lone goal of the game which turned out to be the game winner. The defense held their own as usual with another shut out as Gaby Martinez and Mikayla McKenzie shared goalkeeping duties. Current record 3-0-0.

U12-Boys - This week’s opponent was the Torino FC with a final 5-0 score in favor of California United. The big offensive stats go to Ivan Espino, who had 4 goals (hat trick + 1 ) and 1 assist for good measure. Fernando Pastrana had a hand in 3 of those goals with the assists and scored 1 goal as well for the great team win. Current record 3-0-0.

The U13-Girls had a bye week and stand with a 2-0-0 record.

A note from Coach Bowman.

This article is dedicated to the parents and friends of the Fillmore High school girls tennis team. On 9-26-17, we played against Santa Paula at their high school courts. What made this event so special was the parental support of the team, not to mention Mr. Ito’s (Principal) appearance at the match. A special thanks to my friends, Sara, Gae, Joy, Ray, and Doug who showed up to watch the match. This is our foundation and a necessity for the team. This explains and reinforces the enthusiasm I see on the courts. I’m sure the parents were amazed to see their daughters playing the very technical game of tennis. Tennis is a skill based sport and takes a considerable amount of time to learn. I say that it takes about three months to learn all of the basic strokes; some may have a different idea. What is also great about this sport is the future opportunity to play with parents and friends down the road as tennis is a social sport and can b e played at all ages. Yes parents can learn too. Back to the team members; I am particularly amazed at two of my first year players, Ashley Tamayo and Jessica Flores, as they are tackling singles this season. This is a huge accomplishment to have the confidence to be on the court solo. Instilling confidence with this sport is always a positive outcome of athletics. Most of the girls are playing a sport they have never played before and are having fun! Briana, Karime, Maria, Marisa, and Amairani are getting better by the day. Good job team. We have work to do, lines to run, serves to master as we have more competitions down the road.

Submitted by Coach Tanya Gonzales

(9/21/17) Fillmore vs Santa Paula and all 3 teams came home with a victory!

Frosh scores: 25-22, 25-17, JV scores: 26-24, 25-15, Varsity scores: 20-25, 25-22, 25- 23, and 25-12. Key players were Johana Garcia with 3 serving aces, 5 kills, and 6 blocks; Dezeray Zavala had 8 serving aces, 15 digs, and 4 kills; Lindsey Brown walked away with 21 digs, a serving ace, and 2 kills; Tori Gonzales had 3 serving aces, 10 digs, 3 kills, and 17 assists.

(9/26/17) Fillmore vs Santa Clara all 3 teams won. Frosh scores: 25-21, 25-21; JV scores: 25-8, 25-17, Varsity scores: 25-12, 17-25, 25-17 and 26-24. Standouts were Johana Garcia 4 kills, 3 blocks; Lindsey Brown 13 digs, 1 ace, 5 kills; Dez Zavala 3 digs, 6 kills; Tori Gonzales 16 assists, 3 aces, and even though there are no stats Tori Villegas had a great offensive game.

Submitted by Coach Lindsey Cota

The Fillmore Boys Water Polo team’s first game this year was against Villanova on 09/13/17, and was a shut out, with Villanova taking the win. However, as a team we hung in there and grew from the experience. We had our second game of the season on Friday 09/15/17 against Nordhoff, and performed a lot better than we did against Villanova. Nordhoff left with the win, but we gained valuable experience and were proud to get some points on the board. Our high scorers for the game were Sam Guzman, and Juan Perez.

This is only the second year our school has had a program, and it's a very new sport to many members of our community. We are a very young team, and several of our 10 players have just learned to swim during our practices over the past few weeks. A few of them have just gotten to a point where they'll jump into the water, and allow their heads to be submerged. It's obvious that they have a desire to improve, and they strive to get better everyday. The tasks that lay ahead of them at the start of the season were definitely daunting for our non swimmers, and not everybody could handle the amount of effort and sheer will that they needed to have to make it this far. Two of our players in particular have improved by leaps and bounds. Jorge Lizarraga, and Eddie Rodriguez both began a few weeks ago as players who had to hold on to the wall and couldn't swim more than a few feet at most without stopping. Both players have now played in games, and Eddie plays for a full quarter at a time, at 100% effort without needing or asking for a break. The advancements they've made have been nothing short of spectacular and I'm very impressed by them.

Submitted by Coach Epi Torres

On Friday, Fillmore’s top Cross Country athletes competed at one of the early season quality meets, the Woodbridge Invitational. This meet is a pre-season indicator of how well your training and conditioning measures up to the other quality school programs that participate in this highly competitive Invitational.

The Freshman boys started the day off on a positive note. Jesse De La Cruz and Fabian Del Villar lined up at the starting line along with 227 other competitors. Jesse ran his way to an impressive fourth place finish running a 17:12.2. This was Fillmore's top individual finish on the day. He was followed by his teammate Fabian who also ran impressively finishing in 8th place and posted a time of 17:24.9. Both athletes were awarded medals.

The second race for the Flashes featured the tandem of Davis Flores and Jesus Martinez. There were 241 competitors in this race. Both harriers medaled with Davis finishing in 15th place and running a personal best time of 17:08.8 and Jesus finishing in 45th in 18:06.7.

The Varsity girls race had a total of 32 teams and 234 individuals toed the line. The Fillmore girls ran to a third place finish, 18 points behind 4th ranked CIF Southern Section team Bishop Amat. The Flashes were led by Junior Carissa Rodriguez who finished in 6th place in a personal best time of 18:01, she was followed by a much improved Diana Perez who finished in 13th place in 18:25.2, Vanessa Avila 29th in 19:07.3, Giselle Perez 57th in 19:48.8, Anahi Pascual 59th in 19:56, Jacqueline Perez 104th in 20:55.6 and Allison Recancoj 116th in 20:56. The girls were awarded a third place finish plaque for their fine effort. The top 5 athletes in this race were also awarded finisher medals.

The boys race had a total of 27 teams and 195 runners. Fillmore boys finished in 3rd place as a team placing them ahead of Bishop Amat the 8th ranked team in the current CIF Southern Section D4 rankings. The top performer for the Flashes this week, was senior Everardo Garcia Magana who finished in 14th place and posted the fastest time of the day for the boys in 15:40:8. He was followed by Michael Sanchez 19th in 15:45.2, Jesus Castro 36th in 16:05.4, Sergio Perez 40th in 16:16.8, Rey Laureano 16:19.3, Nick Villela 62nd in 16:40.4, and Jonathan Ordaz 65th in 16:44.7. The top 5 runners for Fillmore averaged an excellent 16:01 over the 3 mile course, and were awarded individual medals. This team also won a team plaque.

On Saturday the remainder of the Fillmore teams competed at the Ojai Invitational. For the first time this year they competed over a hilly, challenging course.

The first girls race was competed over a 3 mile course. Arielle Estrada led the Fillmore group finishing in 83rd place in 23:00.8. She was followed by Emma Orozco 117th in 23:46.3, and Michelle Reyes 135th in 24:32.4.

The boys followed and also ran the 3 mile course. Top runner was Matthew Munoz who finished in 150th in 19:45.8, he was followed by Alex Recancoj 151st in 19:46.4, Erik Hernandez 196th in 20:40.5, Gustavo Valdez 258th in 22:24.7 and Daniel Cruz 264th in 22:48.2.

The second group of girls ran a shorter 1.85 course. They were led by Jacqueline Ruiz who finished was 18th in 13:58.8. She was followed by Lorena Izarraras 30th in 14:30.8, Isabella De La Cruz 37th in 14:52.3, Paulina Fernandez 50th in 15:28.2, Sandra Murillo 62nd in 16:02.3, Eva Vieyra 92nd in 17:07.5, Liliana Felix 93rd in 17:08.4, and Emma Ortiz 102nd in 17:41.9. The top 4 Fillmore runners in this race were awarded finisher medals.

The second group of boys also ran a 1.85 course. Top runner for this race was David Bustos 60th place in 12:42.5. David was award an individual medal for his fine effort. He was followed by Luis Leon 65th in 12:51.4, Erick Gutierrez 74th in 13:04.5, Samuel Kafka 75th in 13:05.7, and Andrew Otineru 93rd in 13:38.4.

The Flashes will next compete on September the 20th at El Camino Real Park in Ventura. This will be the first of three league meets that will determine League Championships and which Varsity teams will represent the Tri-County Athletic Association at the Southern Section Division 4 CIF Prelims meet.

A note from tennis coach Bowman.

To catch up with past events, Fillmore high school girls tennis played against Villanova and Bishop Diego high schools. Playing these two tough teams has definitely raised the skill level of the Fillmore team. For example, Bishop Diego’s number one singles player is ranked in junior tennis in California, so you can imagine what it was like to return a killer serve from this great player. Considering this, playing against a very good player forces our Fillmore girls to play quicker and stronger. Even though Bishop Diego’s team was good, the Fillmore girls returned many tough shots and revealed the hard work endured over these past few months! I am proud to watch them compete against other teams. On 9-18-17, Fillmore played St. Bonaventure at the Ventura College courts with a final score of Fillmore 2, St Bonaventure 16. Briana Lopez, and Ashley Tamayo scored the two points for Fillmore. (Each set won is counted as a point in high school tennis) We hope to see our tennis fans at one of the following competitions; especially in Santa Paula being a hop skip and a jump from Fillmore. Fillmore will compete against Nordoff on 9-21-17 and 10-17-17, Santa Paula on 9-26-17, and 10-19-17, Santa Clara on 9-28-17, Laguna Blanca on 10-3-17, and Villanova on 10-5-17.

I want to thank the support of the parents of our girls team. This foundation is evident as the girls are respectful and enthusiastic to learn and improve their game . A special congratulations to a new player Jessica Flores for playing singles for the first time against St. Bonaventure. Great job Jessica! You should see this girl move on the court. Thank you to Fillmore high school and all of their support for the tennis team.

Submitted by Coach Tanya Gonzales

The Fillmore Flashes played Malibu on September 12th in Fillmore. Frosh: 25-16, 25-23 JV: 25-18, 25-20 Varsity lost to the sharks with each match closer to their opponent. Varsity: 4-25, 18-25, 18-25. Strong players for the evening were Kasey Crawford with 1 serving ace, 8 kills with some strategically placed hits. Lindsey Brown had 9 digs, 1 serving ace, and 1 kill. Tori Gonzales had 4 kills, 2 serving aces, a few balls saved on defense and 12 assists. Thursday, September 14th the Lady Flashes took on Thacher. Only JV and Varsity levels played and defeated Thacher. JV: 25-13, 25-17 Varsity: 25-22, 25-21, 25-18.