The Fountain Hills High School tennis season is up and running, with the Falcons playing their first match against Phoenix Country Day School on March 9.

This was a tough match-up for the local squad, as new head coach Elliot Manton explained that the Falcons underwent a trial by fire in these early goings.

“We were unfortunate to come up against our hardest opponents of the season in our first game of the season,” Manton said. “we can’t wait to get back into training. This fixture has given me an insight into what needs to be approached in our upcoming training sessions.

“The team spirit is high and all the players are very motivated this year.”

The Falcons are off from competition through spring break, not set to return to the court until they host Scottsdale Prep on March 21 at 2 p.m.

PCDS

Both the boys and girls tennis squads dropped their season-opening matches to a tough opponent at Phoenix Country Day School.

For the girls, Meagan Coveney was the first Falcon to find a win, besting her opponent 6-4, 6-1 in a marathon two-hour match. Also earning a win this outing in singles play was Laura Anderson at 2-6, 6-1, 10-7.

“Laura Anderson will be a key part for us this season,” Manton added. “She’s playing really well.”

The remaining singles players, Natalie Quan, Emily Johnson, Sarah Domin and Courtney Dunham suffered defeats. Still, coach Manton said there were positives to come out of those matches, including Dunham playing her best match to date.

“Training is paying off,” Manton added.

In doubles play, the pairings of Courtney Dunham/Natalie Quan, Meagan Coveney/Laura Anderson and Emily Johnson/Paige Despain suffered a defeat by scores of 8-0, 8-3, 8-5, respectively.

In the end, the girls suffered a defeat, 7-2.

It was a similar story for the boys, who had trouble keeping up with PCDS in both singles and doubles play. Stone Xai, Jon Goure, Blake Anderson, Kyle Richardson and Trevor Sandvig all suffered a defeat, alongside David Strayer in the number one postion.

“Strayer will be our strong number all season,” Manton said. “He played well and can only go up from here.”

In doubles, the pairings of Strayer/Goure, Sandvig/Kyle Richardson and Marcus Fonville/Stone Xia all suffered defeats by scores of 8-0.

New coach

While Manton might be new to the head coach position, he’s not new to the team, serving as assistant coach last season.

Manton began coaching at 16 back in England, continuing until he was ready to hit the road.

“I wanted to do the whole ‘American dream,’ thing” Manton said. “So I went to New York and did tennis camp up there before going to Florida as a high-performance coach.”

Working for Cliff Drysdale Tennis, Manton eventually made his way to Arizona and, last year, began working with the Falcons.

“I love tennis,” he added. “You could be coaching number one in the world and get the same amount of fun as teaching a two-year-old who is just starting. It’s great.”

Manton said the Falcons lost some key players last season, but he’s got several new upperclassmen willing to step up and take on leadership roles.

“Our first match was a chance for me to really check out the team, figure out my roster and pairings for doubles,” Manton said. “There was definitely some nerves, but we’ll shake those off. The team seemed pretty pumped up after the match, so I’m looking forward to getting back into practice and figuring out some bits and bobs here and there.”