Scotts Valley girls’ tennis coach Scott Goodrich was gifted with a bolstered roster of 19 players for the 2024 season. It’s the most he’s had since taking over the program five years ago.
“That’s exciting and a credit to all the student-athletes, both past and present, who have made this program what it is today,” he said.
The Falcons have another strong team this year, led by seniors and four-year players Sofia Niklaus and Erin Szymanski. Both of them are team captains and multi-sport athletes as members of the girls’ lacrosse team.
And being a multi-sport athlete seems to be a common theme with some of the other tennis players.
Szymanski said having a larger turnout makes practices a bit more competitive.
“There’s some people that maybe weren’t there the first couple years, and they decided to join this year and they’re really good,” she said. “You start to kind of compete against them for your spot that you almost thought you had. It’s fun.”
Niklaus and Szymanski lead a strong group of singles players, which includes junior Aila Papadopoulos—a member of the girls volleyball team and a newcomer to tennis—and senior Ava Keller, who is talented and rounds out the singles group.
“All are solid players and great teammates, too,” Goodrich said.
The Falcons doubles teams continue to be a work in progress, according to Goodrich.
Juniors Maya Wexler and Riya Kuriakose and sophomores Carmen Pitterling, Georgia Chetcuti and Montserrat Burgos Saavedra are all experienced players who are competing for doubles spots.
Added to the mix are seniors Skylar Dufour and Dillon Fiorita—also multi-sport athletes in soccer and lacrosse, respectively—and senior Abbey Wexler, new to Scotts Valley via Montana.
Other returning players who have shown great improvement are senior Isabella Padilla and sophomores Raquel Sullivan, Zicheng Zeng and Alina Charley.
Newcomers to the team include sophomore Konie Lim and freshmen Alisa Davidson and Harper Welch, who have shown great energy, Goodrich said.
Niklaus said the large turnout was great because they lost a chunk of the team after last year’s seniors graduated.
“I was a little bit nervous whether we were going to get more people,” she said. “But I feel like this new wave of freshmen and sophomores are really good. I think they’ll be able to keep the program going when these seniors leave.”
Niklaus is entering her final season with the Falcons. Her goal as usual is to have fun on the court, but she also has a drive to win this season.
“It’s my last year. I won’t play tennis competitively ever again after this, so just making the most of it,” she said. “Just having a good time when we’re playing and hopefully winning a lot, as well.”
Szymanski echoed her teammate, saying that she’s looking to notch some more victories before her time is up at Scotts Valley.
“I want to win as many matches as I can, but it’s more important for me to have fun and really enjoy my time with the team this year,” she said. “This year is going to be a very emotional year.”
Scotts Valley was successful in the non-league portion of its schedule, which featured matches against Stevenson, Carmel and Roseville High.
“All [were] talented and championship caliber teams to help us prepare for the SCCAL season,” Goodrich said.
The Falcons won their Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League opener against Santa Cruz on Sept. 24, then followed up with a tough loss to defending champion Aptos just two days later.
In last year’s end-of-the-season league tournament, Niklaus and Szymanski were the No. 2 seed in the doubles championships. They lost to Aptos’ Holly Hegna and Coral Collins, the No. 1 seed, in the finals, and a chance to earn a trip into the Central Coast Section playoffs.
The Falcons duo will use that loss as fuel for the upcoming league season.
“Anytime I lose, I hate it and I really never let go of it,” Niklaus said. “I guess I use it as fuel, but I’m just more mad about it. I really hope that we can do well in the tournament this year, and hopefully our team places well enough for us to get a decent amount of players into the tournament.”
League play was supposed to continue against San Lorenzo Valley on Oct. 1, but the sweltering California heat wave forced both teams to postpone their contest.
Scotts Valley (2-2, 1-1) returns to league action Oct. 3 against Soquel. SCCAL play will continue against Harbor on Oct. 8, and rematches with Santa Cruz on Oct. 10 and Aptos on Oct. 15. All matches are scheduled for 4:30pm at Scotts Valley High.
“This is a great group of student-athletes who are working hard and having fun,” Goodrich said. “We’re looking forward to another competitive and exciting league season.”
