Positivity and fun are widespread themes with South Whidbey’s girls tennis team.

The Falcons have a turnout of 42 players. Complaints are few and far between among the athletes.

“We just have a positive bunch of players,” said Falcon head coach Karyle Kramer. “When you have that already established, those are the types of people who join the team and want to be part of it. It’s a lot more than just tennis.”

“We try to focus on tennis to a certain level. We do have a lot of beginners, but we also have a lot of returners and veteran players who have also put in time in the offseason. We’re competitive as well and we focus on that,” she added.

Senior Anna Lynch is one of a dozen seniors on the team. Lynch, who will play both singles and doubles, was excited about the new crop of players that joined the team. She and Gochanour enjoy the sport’s welcoming atmosphere as well as seeing players grow as athletes and competitors as a result.

“Tennis and track have really all-around nice girls and so it’s super fun to have a group of girls to get to know and to play,” Lynch said. “You learn a lot from people who are just always happy and encouraging and respectful.”

Lynch said her goals for her final season are to become a better tennis player as well as someone young players can look up to.

Falcon junior Bailey Gochanour will be a front-runner for South Whidbey this season. After falling in the bi-district tournament last season with doubles partner Isla Dubendorf, who has since graduated, Gocahanour will likely swing between singles and doubles play throughout the season, but play singles in postseason. She hopes to become reacquainted with singles play by becoming more consistent in her hitting and picking up fresh nuances of the sport.

“I’m really looking forward to matches and sunny, sunny weather and improving,” Gocahanour said.

Unlike the boys team, the Falcons do not compete against the Emerald City League during the regular season. They do, however, compete with them at the bi-district tournament. The Emerald City League is consistently one of the top performing conferences in the state, according to Kramer.

“Our goal on a daily basis is to improve, bottom-line,” Kramer said. “It’s about the practice and it’s about the improvement and competing well in your division and at postseason play. We always define success what the girls take away from the season and what they carry over to the classroom and to their families and communities.”