Don Appleton isn’t one to spew hyperbole, so when the longtime Los Gatos High girls water polo coach said this year’s team is one of the fastest and most athletic groups he’s ever coached, that means a lot.
“We have the potential to be great this year,” he said. “It’s a matter of keeping healthy and staying motivated at every practice.”
The last time the Central Coast Section playoffs were contested in 2019, the Wildcats competed in the top bracket, the Open Division. In Appleton’s 11 seasons as the girls coach, the Wildcats have won six Santa Clara Valley De Anza Division championships and a CCS title, in 2015.
This year’s team is bolstered by the best goalie duo in the section and perhaps all of Northern California. In seniors Jackie King (Stanford commit) and Lucy Holland (UC Davis), the Wildcats boast two Division I prospects. Holland and King are true difference-makers who come up with the routine saves along with the highlight-reel variety stops that often change the outcome of a match.
“We play a pretty physical style of water polo”
—Don Appleton, Los Gatos High School’s girls water polo coach
The Wildcats are strong in the field as well, with senior Mackenzie Lindholm leading the way.
“Mackenzie is a good all-around athlete, is reliable and does her role well, especially defensively,” Appleton said. “She scores the goals she’s supposed to and is a rock-solid player.”
The Frangieh sisters—Zoe and Karly—possess tremendous speed and are catalysts in the Wildcats’ fast-pace attack.
“We’ll be more of a run-and-gun type team as opposed to past years,” Appleton said.
Appleton said Karly is one of the fastest players in the section and Zoe is a standout center defender and deciding on what college she will play at next year. Freshman Julia Ernsting is a key reserve on a talented roster that includes Campbell McClellan, Lily van Putten, Maily Isaacs, Sofia Vieceli, Josephine Minert, Karissa Elliott, Ella Ralston, Vianh Ton, Ekaterina Kokinos, Abby Lockman and Serine Kugler.
“We play a pretty physical style of water polo,” Appleton said. “But that also matches up with experience, and with us not being as experienced this year, one of our new mottos is to rely on our athleticism. You need to have a lot of experience to play physically without pushing the rules or costing the team with exclusion (penalties). So this year we’re relying on athleticism until we get our experience to play a more physical game. We’ll be using our head and athleticism to dictate the game.”
