The 2024 fall season for Scotts Valley junior Hayden Smith and the Falcons girls’ volleyball team just got underway.
So far, so good.
Smith finished with a team-best nine kills and seven digs in Tuesday’s non-league victory over Monterey High in three sets (25-12, 25-23, 25-20).
“I think it was a good beginning of the season game. We definitely have a lot to work on, but I think if we continue to work hard in practice I think we could be really, really good this season,” she said.
With the win, the Falcons are off to a 2-0 start in this young campaign.
The Falcons took command in the first set and led by as many as 14 points before they closed it out in dominant fashion.
Scotts Valley first-year head coach Mikayla Fish knew better than to get complacent, though.
“We knew it would not be an easy second or third set. Typically those first sets, one team has the jitters, and you know it’s not going to be for the second or third set,” she said.
Monterey came storming back in the second game. At one point, they trailed by just one point with the score at 23-22. That’s as close as the Toreadores would get.
Fish called a timeout to give her players some time to think it over. They responded by sweeping Monterey en route to victory.
“I think we just need to communicate a lot more. We were letting some balls drop, but I think we definitely picked it up after [Fish] called that time out,” Smith said.
In 2023, the Falcons placed fourth in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League standings with a 6-6 record in league play. They finished with a 19-11 overall record, which was good enough to earn a trip to the Central Coast Section Division IV playoffs.
Scotts Valley lost in the opening round to The Harker School, which met again in non-league action Sept. 5. The results of that game were not available prior to this publication’s deadline.
A total of nine seniors graduated from last year’s squad, including Natalia Cash, the Bariteau twins—Lauren and Paige—and Grace Emanuelson, who finished with a team-best 209 digs and 189 kills, according to statistics on the Monterey Bay Preps website.
Fish will need Smith and Ava Morrison—the lone senior on the Falcons—to fill in the vacant leadership roles.
“Really being the nucleus, getting girls fired up and making sure we’re in it 100% of the time. Being the backbone for our team,” Fish said.
The non-league portion of their schedule also features a revamped St. Francis squad on Sept. 9, and at The King’s Academy the following day.
“It’s going to help us for league [play] because we have a really tough league,” Smith said. “I think this is going to prepare us well for who we have to face in the regular season.
Fish, who took over the program after former coach Margeret Anderson stepped down in 2023, inherited this year’s challenging preseason schedule.
“I agree with the teams we’re playing. They’ve notoriously done well in our area and in CCS,” Fish said.
Smith and Morrison are the only two returners on a Scotts Valley roster made up mostly of juniors and sophomores.
“I’m trying to talk a lot in huddles, just try to help out the younger girls who maybe haven’t played at a varsity level,” Smith said.
This year’s teammates include sophomore Ava Dumesny, junior Harlan Hennager, junior Makayla McDonnell, sophomore Dylan Wing, sophomore Shino Hashiguchi-Rosoff and junior Aila Papadopoulos, who had eight kills in their win against Monterey.
“They’re just so scrappy and eager to learn. They want to do well, and they’ve got big shoes to fill. But, they all want to be here and they’re so excited to get on the court,” Fish said. “I don’t think you can compare that to anything else.”
Junior Zoe Norris and sophomore Maddie Pipal are slowly making an impact on the team, and junior Rylee Giesen—a transfer from Aptos—will be eligible to play in the second half of the season.
“[Giesen] will be a great asset,” Fish said.
Pipal recorded her first career ace in her first-ever varsity match, while Norris stepped in for Morrison after she left midway through the game with flu-like symptoms. Morrison did not return for the remainder of the match, but she is expected to make a full recovery.
“Throwing in a sophomore into that role, mid-game, I think they did really well,” Fish said. “They really kept their own.”
Other minor bumps in the road include Fish teaching the players how to be calm in the chaos, and having a young setter can often lead to a chaotic offense. She said it’s about working on the smaller details and the mental toughness that comes with playing at a higher level.
“Hopefully we’ll really settle into our roles,” Fish said.
Fish mentioned how Anderson rebuilt the volleyball program during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. The newest skipper said it was a treat to work as an assistant and see how Anderson ran the team.
The goal from here on out is to evolve the program and make sure they’re fostering the younger athletes.
“We have a really strong middle school program now. It’s making sure these girls are getting into club programs and really trying to stretch our arms farther than just Scotts Valley,” Fish said.
Scotts Valley will play at Santa Cruz High to begin SCCAL action Sept. 12. Others in the league include Aptos, Mount Madonna, San Lorenzo Valley, Soquel and defending SCCAL champion Harbor, which also won a CCS D-IV title.
For now, the ultimate goal for Fish is taking the Falcons back into the CCS playoffs by always keeping an eye on the prize. She believes they can really turn some heads going into league action.
“We have potential, we really do. We just have to tap it,” Fish said.
*Correction: A previous version of this story stated that Zoe Norris was a sophomore, which is incorrect. Norris is currently a junior at Scotts Valley High. It also stated that there were freshmen on the varsity team, which is also incorrect.
Zoe is a sophomore.