Scotts Valley High girls' tennis head coach Scott Goodrich stands behind seniors [from left to right] Isabella Padilla, Abbey Cox, Ava Keller, Sofia Niklaus, Erin Szymanski, Dillon Fiorita and Skylar Dufour who celebrated Senior Day prior to a league match against Soquel High on Oct. 22. (contributed)

The Scotts Valley High girls’ tennis team closed out the regular season with a 5-2 win over Harbor High in Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play Oct. 24. 

With the victory, the Falcons placed second in the league standings with an 8-2 record behind this year’s league champion Aptos (10-0).

“This team got better and better as the season went along,” Scotts Valley head coach Scott Goodrich said. “We had 19 players on the roster and everyone contributed and everyone improved. I couldn’t be more proud of this group.”

In singles play, Scotts Valley senior Erin Syzmanski beat Joslyn Courneen 6-2, 6-2 at No. 1, and sophomore Montserrat Burgos-Saavedra defeated Addisen Kimmel 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3.

In a battle between cousins, Harbor freshman Audrey Stenton beat sophomore Georgia Chetcuti 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 at No. 2. The Pirates defaulted at No. 4 singles.

In doubles action, Scotts Valley senior Abbey Cox and sophomore Raquel Sullivan defeated Harbor’s Layla Coombs and Keyli Salguezo Portillo 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1.  

In the longest and most competitive match of the day, the Harbor duo of Emily Reyes Seyboyan and Mary Groyou beat Scotts Valley sophomore’s Zicheng Zeng and Konie Lim 6-4, 7-5 at No. 2. Harbor defaulted at No. 3 doubles.

The Falcons also picked up a 5-2 victory over Soquel in SCCAL play Oct. 22. 

In singles play, senior Sofia Niklaus beat Addie Sommerville 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1, Erin Szymanski defeated Sofia Arnulfo 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2, and senior Ava Keller beat Cassidy Seibert 6-0, 6-2 at No. 3. 

In a marathon match that lasted more than two hours, Soquel’s Sophie Arnold defeated senior Isabella Padilla 7-5, 6-4 at No. 4.

In doubles action, the Soquel duo of Ayla Hymes and Lucy Federspiel beat the Falcons’ junior tandem of Maya Wexler and Riya Kuriakose 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) at No. 1.

It was all Scotts Valley from there as senior Skylar Dufour and Burgos-Saavedra combined for a 6-4, 6-1 win over Camryn Jensen and Adeline Vaughn-Jones at No. 2, while senior Dillon Fiorita and Chetcuti defeated Lia Chiarmonte and Kiley Vanderpool 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3.

Both wins extended the Falcons’ win streak to three straight. Prior to that, they lost to Aptos, 5-2, in the teams’ second meeting Oct. 15. 

However, that match was much closer than the final score indicated as two of Scotts Valley’s five losses went to third set tiebreakers.  

“We flip those two around, it’s an entirely different story,” Goodrich said. “I was just so proud of how hard everyone battled and the incredible improvement we showed from the first match to the second, against a very talented team.”

The SCCAL Girls Tennis Championships for singles and doubles will be held at Imperial Courts Tennis Club in Aptos on Nov. 5. The first round begins at 10am, followed by the second round shortly after. 

The championship matches are scheduled for Nov. 6 at 3pm. Tournament location and times are subject to change.

“Our theme all year and each year here at SVHS is learning, improving, competing, growing as a team and having fun doing it all,” Goodrich said. “This group of 19 student-athletes combined to make this one of the best seasons ever at Scotts Valley High.”

Scoreboard

Prep football

At San Lorenzo Valley 41, Santa Cruz 0: The Cougars recorded their first shutout of the season following a blowout win over the Cardinals in Pacific Coast Athletic League Santa Lucia Division play Oct. 26.

SLV (8-0, 4-0) hosts Stevenson (5-2, 4-0) on Nov. 2 in a showdown for first place in the division standings. Kickoff is slated for 12:30pm.

St. Francis 18, Scotts Valley 15: Senior running back Eli Velez had 156 rushing yards on 29 carries and a pair of touchdowns for the Falcons in a loss to the Sharks in PCAL Mission Division–North action Oct. 24. 

Scotts Valley took a 7-6 lead in the second quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run by Velez. The scoring drive was set up thanks to a huge 28-yard run by Vaughn Chomentowski who moved the chains on a 4th-and-nine play.

The Falcons took a 14-6 lead going into halftime after Velez crossed the goal line for his second touchdown run with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

Joseph Dayritt gave St. Francis an 18-14 lead with a huge 12-yard run, breaking three tackles to make his way into the end zone with 2:52 remaining in the game. 

That was plenty of time for the Falcons to march down the field as they got down to St. Francis’ 34-yard line. Ryder Quilici tossed the ball into the corner of the end zone, but the Sharks’ defense came up with a big interception to take over possession with 40 seconds remaining in the game.

Scotts Valley (3-6, 2-3) plays at Alisal (4-4, 3-1) in the teams’ regular season finale Nov. 8 at 7:30pm.

Girls golf

Scotts Valley 138, at Soquel 161: Lauren Ohlsson shot a 30 to earn medalist honors for the Falcons in their win over the Knights in SCCAL action Oct. 22.  

Ohlsson birdied on the first hole, while Maisey Chard (32) got par also on the first hold on the front six holes at DeLaveaga Golf Course in Santa Cruz. Lizzie Goldfield (34) got par on the second hole and Becca Ervine shot a 42 for Scotts Valley, which captured the regular season SCCAL crown after it finished with a 10-0 record in league play.

Cassidy Perry shot a 38 for Soquel, followed by Joey Burgos (38), Chelsea Myers (41) and Hailey Helgueros (44), who got a par on the fifth hole.

Girls volleyball

Scotts Valley 3, San Lorenzo Valley 0: Ava Morrison had 12 kills and five aces for the Falcons in their win against the Cougars in SCCAL play Oct. 23. Teammate Rylee Giesen added 10 kills for Scotts Valley (16-8, 7-5).

Editor’s note: This week’s edition of the Weeklys Sports Ticker highlights local prep athletes for their performances during the week of Oct. 21-27.

Coaches and athletic directors are encouraged to submit scores and highlights to jr****@we*****.com . Follow sports editor Juan Reyes (@jmreyes831) on Twitter for scores and news updates. 

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A Watsonville native who has a passion for local sports and loves his community. A Watsonville High, Cabrillo College, San Jose State University and UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism alumnus, he primarily covers high school athletics, Cabrillo College athletics, various youth sports in the Pajaro Valley and the Santa Cruz Warriors. Juan is also a video game enthusiast, part-time chef (at home), explorer and a sports junkie. Coaches and athletic directors are encouraged to report scores HERE.

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