Who will join Wolff as a DODEA-Europe tennis champ?

DODEA-Europe’s tennis scene has many unknowns heading into the 2026 campaign.

The Kaiserslautern Military Community’s stranglehold on DODEA-Europe tennis showed cracks in 2025, with only one of the four titles heading to the heart of Germany’s Palatinate region.

And this year, at least three new champions will be crowned across boys and girls singles and boys and girls doubles. Only Vilseck’s Pennie Wolff is back to defend her title.

Adding to the uncertainty, Marymount – which has won the last two boys doubles titles – isn’t competing against DODEA schools this school year.

This has all created a power vacuum, and plenty of candidates will be ready to fill that void.

All will be decided when the best across Europe converge on Wiesbaden for the tennis championships on Oct. 22-24.

Here’s a team-by-team breakdown based off coaches’ responses:

Alconbury

Coach Christopher Pardo anticipates a down year for the Dragons after losing their top players to graduation.

Alconbury has just four returners plus one new sophomore who never has played the sport.

Team captain Adriana Alejandro Diez will try to follow in her older sister Ana’s footsteps, as the elder made back-to-back Euros appearances. The junior enters the season as No. 1 singles player, and she and freshman Evelyn Doyle will try to push for a Euros spot as a doubles pair.

For the boys, the top two singles players are Tadas Kurlavicius and Isaac Moose. Pardo said the sophomores have some work to do before they are ready for European competition, but they can bank on the tutelage of Moose’s older brother Gethin, who made it to Euros as a senior in 2022, to help them grow.

AFNORTH

Bruce LaVere has a lot of players starting their tennis journeys this year, meaning this could be a developmental year in Brunssum, Netherlands.

Still, the AFNORTH mentor said his squad expects to be competitive, with a couple of Euros candidates.

Leiliani Dowling leads that group. The third-year player made it to Wiesbaden last season in doubles with the departed Madelyne Hatfield, and the senior is seeking a return.

A trio of second-year players – senior Ylvi Kuster, sophomore Lily Carpentier and junior Jakob Juskas – are the team’s other veterans.

New Lions include juniors Nathan Lam, Riley Laguardia and Dexter Brodsky; sophomores Rugile Paskeviciete, Sabina Kralikova, Robert Rhymer, Agatha-Mae Vergie and Jayvyn Goss; and freshmen Zafer Ayden and Atticus Hegarty.

Ansbach

The Cougars could be on the prowl this season, especially on the boys side.

Three-year Euros qualifier Jack Lovallo is coming off a semifinal appearance, the first Ansbach boy to do so since the school’s tennis program was reborn in 2023. He could make another deep run in his final high school season.

Sophomore August Bulinski should make an impression as well, coach Daren Schuettpelz said.

Senior Caleb Myers, junior Grant Gerhardt and sophomore John Williams have joined the squad this year.

Juniors Marley Shackleton and Ekaterina Weimar and sophomore Violet Richard lead a girls squad hoping to make a splash during the regular season. New to the team are senior Katerine Chandler, juniors Ellie Allen and Shareese Matthewson, and sophomores Ashlyn Bock, Jamilet Moreno and Lucy Parrish.

Brussels

The Brigands are optimistic heading into 2026.

Gagik Sargysan is coming off a breakout sophomore season in which he advanced to Euros as a doubles player. He didn’t record a win with former teammate Connor Zarbo, who transferred to Spangdahlem, but the experience has raised his expectations for his junior campaign as a prime contender for Brussels’ No. 1 boys singles spot.

Claire Kulis, meanwhile, enters her fourth season at Brussels as the model of consistency and steady growth, her coach Tammla Price said. The senior is expected to anchor the girls side.

Other veterans include sophomores Elijah Kitt and Mariam Buachidze.

Freshmen Gavin Deyerle and Kaden Marzec Zinn are new this season. The latter is poised to make an immediate impact this fall as he tries to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Kai, a former Euros qualifier.

Kaiserslautern

The titans that have powered one of DODEA-Europe’s strongest programs are gone, but new coach Matt Allison still expects the Raiders to have a strong season.

The mentor said he wants to improve the squad’s depth, and he has the roster this year that can do that.

Kaiserslautern didn’t advance a girls player to Euros last year after sweeping the singles and doubles titles for four straight seasons. The Raiders are hoping to rectify that this fall.

Senior Izzy Petrik is expected to have an impact. While junior Yuria Koch and freshman Emma Parvio are new to Kaiserslautern, they have a strong tennis background.

Others on the roster are seniors Amelia Kirby and Unique Adeyemo, junior Naia Lacal Sanchez, sophomore Anastasia Hallagin and freshman Faith Hummel.

For the boys, seniors Tucker Meyer and Conner Winnie are coming off a third-place finish at last year’s championships to lead the boys side. Allison mentioned Meyer as particularly eager to make his mark this season.

Sophomore David Proper has a volleyball background, and his coach said the newcomer is showing how intensity and drive can lead to success on the tennis courts.

Seniors Patrick Flanagan and Dylan Hauser; sophomores Connor Ball, Asher Hoffman, Jason Whaley and Asher Valence; and freshmen Andrew Baker and Logan Carroll round out the boys team.

Lakenheath

The Lancers should hold their own this season, coach Kyle Siftar said.

New players will lead the way. Freshman Tyler Siftar, the coach’s son, is the boys No. 1 singles player. Kyle Siftar said Tyler, who has been playing the sport since he was 7 years old, will face growing pains but has a chance to make it to Euros.

Senior Sarah Parkison transferred from the States and is the girls No. 1 singles player. Her coach described her game as consistent.

Senior Emalynn Barnes has played a lot during the offseason, and her improvement has shown in practice, Siftar said. Piper Bowler has gotten year-round lessons, and her play has impressed her coach.

Naples

The Wildcats are ready to play this fall, coach Craig Lord said.

His son, Yoel, has advanced to Euros his first two years for Naples. As a freshman, he competed in doubles with his older brother Erion, and last year, he made it as a singles player.

Senior Ariana Swain qualified for Euros as a doubles pair. This year, she will pair up with sophomore transfer Wynona Marie Espinar.

Sophomore Madison Smith will compete as a girls singles player.

Ramstein

The Royals have plenty of reasons for optimism, even as they still try to figure out the right lineup.

Senior Brooke Vinson and junior Scarlett Hosey lead the way for the girls. The duo was runner-up last fall, and they enter this last season together as a favorite to stand atop the podium.

Most of the boys team returns, starting with Killian Phillips. He will slot in as the boys No. 1 singles player.

The boys No. 1 doubles and girls No. 1 singles players are still to be determined. Coach Alfredo Rios said a pair of freshmen, Rebekah Francis and Harper Schnorrenberg, have showcased a competitive game and should help the team forward.

SHAPE

The Spartans aren’t resting on their laurels after a promising 2025 campaign.

Second-year coach Angie Penry said SHAPE will look to build off that success with a good mix of experience and key new additions.

Senior Olivia Penry, the team captain, and junior Elena Accetta advanced to the semifinals in girls doubles before finishing fourth in the competition. They are back for more.

The reigning boys No. 1 singles player, Jesus Lukas, is ready to set the tempo, along with seniors Samuele Scaranaro, Federico Grassi and Samuel Diez Vega.

Sophomore Agata Fikova, junior Viktorija Vilcina, Alejandro Herrera and Benoit Lamodiere are new talents who add depth to the squad.

Sigonella

The Jaguars lost numerous talented players over the past two years, and coach Andy Caro has struggled recruiting players to the courts

That will leave Sigonella with just five players by season’s end.

The key piece for the Jaguars is Meghan Nguyen. She made it to Euros as the final singles seed and showed that she belonged with a win in pool play.

Nathan Hermansen also made it to Wiesbaden last year as part of a doubles pair, but he will be leaving midseason.

Veteran Jacob Wheeler will replace Hermansen as the team’s No. 1 seed for the boys. Joselin Avila is the team’s other returner.

Freshmen Masami Witt and Jorden Tesfay are new to the squad.

Spangdahlem

First-year coach Soynae Strickland said the season is promising for the Sentinels.

After not getting a player to Euros last fall, Spangdahlem has two hopefuls in transfer Zarbo and senior Sarah Hutton. Zarbo has Euros experience after making it as a Brussels Brigand last season.

Three Sentinels are back: Hutton, junior Christian Graham and sophomore Camilla Weyland. New to the team are senior Gavin Collazo, junior Sophia Nelson and freshmen Regina Derose, Hannah Hutton, Sam Hartzog and Juliana Serano.

Stuttgart

Coach Amy Rochowiak has high hopes for her boys squad, while the girls will be full of new names.

No. 1 boys singles player Matthew Suber is back after making it to Euros in 2025. Rochowiak called him “a force to be reckoned with” ahead of the fall season.

She also described the entire boys lineup as strong. Seniors Brett Pound and Gabe Porrata; juniors Brian Bonanno, Daniel Kim and Jake Snow; and sophomores Pedro Rangel and C.J. Hangsleben are the team’s other veterans.

Joining the squad are senior Caleb Granger, sophomore Eli Sandoval and freshman Nicholas Prewitt.

The girls have just one returner: Ema Causevic. She placed third with her former partner, Isa Suber.

Rochowiak pointed out senior Ella Sandoval as a big addition to the team. Other newcomers include senior Georgia Brown, juniors Sara Roth and Zella Froehlich, sophomores Dulce Munoz and Morgan Rea, and freshmen Anabella Nimbona and Katherine Walsh.

Vilseck

Everything begins with Wolff for the Falcons.

The sophomore took the DODEA-Europe tennis scene by storm as a freshman. She didn’t drop a single set all season and lost only one game during the European championships – in the final against Stuttgart gradate Bella Farias.

Wolff is looking to defend that title in the same dominant fashion.

Five veteran seniors are back on the girls side, with another five newcomers.

The boys are a bit younger, with just one of the four returners being a senior. Four rookies join the Falcons this campaign.