Individual victories shine bright in tennis loss

Men’s tennis opens 2025 season against higher ranked Linfield Lions, loses 13-5; Ja’len Terry and Nicolas Valtierra have excellent showings against tough competition.

Ja'len Terry, Pepper Bough Editor • February 21, 2025

Courtesy Ja’len Terry

Team Captain Ja’len Terry serves during one of his three wins against Linfield Christian on Feb. 19.

Temecula, CA—With six players graduating last year, this year’s men’s tennis team is back at square one as it looks to rebuild the program. With head coach Omar Menjivar looking for players to fill out the roster, this season’s prospects still look bright.

Tennis opened their 2024-2025 packed preseason on Wednesday against the Linfield Christian Lions with a 13-5 loss. Despite Linfield being a higher ranked school, this did not phase the Yellowjackets. While the team did not field enough players to win the match, individuals played quite well.

Team captain Ja’len Terry shined, racking up a clean sweep against the Lion competition. He won his first two matches 6-2, then carried that winning mentality into his last match, winning 6-0.

After losing his first match 3-6, sophomore Nicolas Valtierra had a Tom Brady worthy comeback as Nick lost his first match 3-6 but won his next two games 6-1 and 6-4.

Freshman Jake Cruz, better known to his teammates as “Jake from State Farm,” was thrown to the wolves in his first match. He played a high level of competition with only three weeks of real tennis training. While he lost all his matches, there was some light at the end of this losing tunnel as Jake showed extreme heart.

Even though they did not come home with the victory, the team remained in good spirits. Coach Menjivar’s mission for the preseason is for the team to get better, learn, and gain experience so that when league play starts nothing will be able to stop the Yellowjackets from claiming the league title.

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About the Contributor

Ja'len Terry, Editor

Ja’len Terry is a senior and this is his first year as an editor/writer for the Pepper Bough.He joined the Pepper Bough to become a better writer and give its audience the best stories possible. Outside of being a part of Pepper Bough, Ja'len is team captain for men's tennis and President of the Drama Club.