The Scotts Valley High School girl’s tennis team finished 11-1 in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play and clinched the league championship Wednesday, Oct. 27, with a convincing 7-0 win against Soquel High.
This year marks the second consecutive league title for the Falcons, who won despite graduating six seniors from the 2009 team, including their No. 1 and No. 3 singles players.
However, with leadership from No. 1 singles player Capella Yee, a senior, and a strong supporting cast, the team shook off one early-season loss and finished league play powerfully.
“I think the more we play, the better we get,” first-year coach Judy Newman said.
Newman is the tennis director at La Madrona Country Club, which has, in the past four years, become the feeder program for the high school teams on the north end of the county.
The league title was not something the team thought about after losing to Santa Cruz, a perennial powerhouse, 4-3 early in the season. However, the Falcons knocked off the other league challenger, Aptos High, twice and defeated Santa Cruz in a thrilling 4-3 decision Oct. 14. Aptos’ only loss was to Scotts Valley, while Santa Cruz lost twice to Aptos and once to the Falcons, resulting in the league title.
“It was really a pretty even horserace from the beginning,” Newman said. “It wasn’t in the bag by any means. This is a fairly young team.”
Besides Yee, the team was helped by strong singles play from Pim Tamavimoke, Zoe Pelletier and Danica Houseman and doubles duos of Marielle Fesmire and Nicole Beans and Nicole LePort and Serena Strehlke.
Some of the Falcons will play in the SCCAL tournament that will start Monday, Nov. 1, at either Cabrillo College or Seascape Sports Club in Aptos.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Newman said. “This team feels much like a team sport. They cheer each other on until the last match.”
