Warren’s doubles team Jaylin Martin (left) hits the ball back with Abigail Galindo play St. Margaret’s in their first round CIF playoff match at Warren High School on Wednesday. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)

DOWNEY – The Warren High School Girls Tennis team had been one of the hottest teams in the area as the regular season closed out with a 10-match winning streak.

They started the season with consecutive losses to Whitney and La Serna and won the next 10

That all came to an end Wednesday (November 5), as the Bears fell to St. Margarets, 12-6, in a CIF-Southern Section Division 4 first round playoff match at Warren.

With the 12-6 win, St. Margarets (11-10), which came in as the Pacific Hills League At-Large team, advanced to a second-round match on Friday (Nov. 7), while Warren ends its team portion of the playoffs with a 10-3 record.

Two years ago, the Bears won in the first round and advanced to the second round.

On the bright side, five of the Warren girls are headed to the CIF-SS Individuals, which begin later this month.

The No. 1 doubles team of junior Abigail Galinda and senior Jaylin Martin, who were the Gateway League Individual Champions, and No. 2 doubles team of juniors Jihanna Caldera and Carmen Quinones, who were runners up in the league finals, are both entered in the CIF Individuals which begin Nov. 24.

In addition, No. 2 singles player, senior Haylee Sanchez, who placed third in the Gateway League Individuals, will be an alternate in the CIF Individuals.

In the match against St. Margarets, the No. 1, 2 and 3 singles and No. 1, 2 and 3 doubles fell by the same 1-2 scores.

“The kids all like being around each other and they have developed some good relationships with each other,” said fifth-year coach Ray Trejo, of his 13-member squad. “You know, it was a fair match. We were a couple of sets from being a little closer. I think after the second round, the girls got a little down on themselves.

“My motto the whole year was ‘win the first round and win the second round and we got it.’”

After the first round (three singles and three doubles teams play), it was a 3-3 tie. However, the Tartans stretched the lead to 7-5 after the second round and took complete control in the third round, winning five of the six sets.

In a crucial No. 1 doubles match against the Tartans No. 1s, Warren No. 1 had a 5-4 lead, only to lose the final three games, to lose 7-5.

If they had won, the Bears would have had a 4-2, first-round lead, but instead it was a 3-3 draw heading into the second round.

Both the No. 2 (Caldera/Quinones) and No. 3 doubles (Sophomore Valentina Baez/junior Alexandria Fuentes) teams won in the first round with 6-3 and 6-1 scores, respectively.

The only first round singles win came from senior Ivanka Ibarra with an easy 6-0 win.

However, the Tartans stretched the lead to 7-5 after the second round and took complete control in the third round, winning five of the six sets.

St. Margarets won four more and lost two in the second set. The two Warren wins came from No. 1 senior Sofia Garcia (6-3) and No. 1 doubles team, Galindo/Martin (6-4).

The third set was almost all Tartans with five wins. The lone Bears win came from Garcia (6-3).

Garcia, who played doubles for her sophomore and junior years, said of her change to singles this season, “The three returners from last year all became starters for the top three singles.

“It’s challenging at first because you’re by yourself and have nobody else to blame,” added Garcia. “I’m definitely glad I tried it and it’s definitely new.

“Honestly, the girls were great (Wednesday) and played very well. I feel like I played one of my best matches in a while, especially against their No. 1. I felt very confident going in and no matter what the result was I knew I would be proud of myself, especially the way I was playing and my mind set really got me far.”

Ibarra also said she had one of her best sets against the No. 1 St. Margarets player, saying, “Honestly, I was really happy how I played,” said Ibarra, of her 6-3 loss against the St. Margarets No.1 player, who won all three of her matches. “She is a really competitive player, and I love being competitive, especially with players like that.

“During league I had won against the No. 1 singles player for Mayfair, who hadn’t lost any matches.”

Between Ibarra (19-4 record) and her other two singles players – No. 1 Garcia (18-5) and No. 2 Sanchez (19-3) – they combined for an amazing 56-12 record in the season.

“Our coaches (Ray Trejo and his brother, JV coach Gabriel Trejo) really trained us well, preparing us mentally and physically,” Ibarra said. “We get to play and have fun and it’s also about keeping it consistent. Especially with me, Haylee and Sofia, we all try our best and try to have fun. We have a thing going when we say ‘Flo’, which means calm down and whenever we see when one of us is down, we try to hype each other up.”

That singles win stat was just behind the three doubles teams records – No. 1 Galindo/Martin (20-3), No. 2 Caldera/Quinones (21-1) and No. 3 Baez/Fuentes (18-5) for a 59-9 record.

“Our coaches (Ray Trejo and his brother, JV coach Gabriel Trejo) really trained us well, preparing us mentally and physically,” Ibarra said. “We get to play and have fun and it’s also about keeping it consistent. Especially with me, Haylee and Sofia, we all try our best and try to have fun. We have a thing going when we say ‘Flo’, which means calm down and whenever we see when one of us is down, we try to hype each other up.”

That singles win stat was just behind the three doubles teams records – No. 1 Galindo/Martin (20-3), No. 2 Caldera/Quinones (21-1) and No. 3 Baez/Fuentes (18-5) for a 59-9 record.

This season, the Bears finished first in the Gateway League with an undefeated 8-0 record.

“It was an overall team effort this year and everyone contributed to our team winning league for the fourth time in the last five years,” added coach Ray Trejo. “Our record over the last five years in the league stands at 57-3.

“Our most consistent singles players were Sanchez and Ibarra, while in doubles Jihanna and Carmen were dominant, losing only one set in league.”

Also on the team were subs, seniors Sophia Casillas and Maryann Kasouha, Savanna Garcia, junior Leyla Minor and sophomore Savanna Garcia.

What they said:

Warren junior No. 2 doubles player, Carmen Quinones: “I definitely think that the future is going to be bright. I feel like a lot of us have learned and have experienced a lot of things, because we play a lot of seniors.

That definitely taught me a lot.

I feel like we (Quinones and Caldera) have a real good dynamic where we know each other well. We know when one is off and know what to do.”

Warren junior No. 2 doubles player, Jihanna Caldera: “I’m thankful to have Carmen as a partner. We knew each other since eighth grade.

In one of the matches (No. 1 vs. No. 1) both teams were going back and forth and the pressure was getting to me and Carmen pulled me aside and was talking to me and that feeling of your not alone helped me.

“I feel like we tried hard in the match and gave it all we had.”

Warren’s tennis season ends in CIF first round