Two of the top girls water polo teams in the Central Coast Section last year – Los Altos and Mitty highs – are looking like contenders this season as well. The Eagles, who reached the CCS semifinals in 2006, met the Monarchs Saturday in the finals of the Los Altos Invitational, with section champ Mitty pulling out a 4-3 win. Andrew Maisel, Los Altos” new coach, called the game “a tightly fought defensive battle.” The Eagles trailed 3-2 at halftime; each team scored once in the third quarter but both were shut out in the fourth. Alexandra Kaufman led Los Altos with two goals and Carey Wong tallied the other. The two-day Los Altos Invitational featured 12 teams. Homestead finished fourth.
Volleyball
Last week”s non-league match between Los Altos and St. Francis pitted youth against experience and, as one might guess, experience won out. The host Lancers prevailed 25-12, 25-20, 25-20 Sept. 4. “All things considered, I thought we played well for a young team facing a much more experienced St. Francis squad,” Eagles coach Jason Kennedy said. Shrugging off a slow start, Los Altos led 18-15 in the second game before the Lancers went on a five-point run to take control. Jenny Love paced Los Altos with 11 kills. Kristin Rimbach added eight kills and posted three blocks. Setter Rachel Nelson “played a great game moving the ball around against a big St. Francis block,” Kennedy said. Mountain View swept host Menlo-Atherton Sept. 4 to improve to 4-3. The Spartans won with scores of 25-15, 25-7 and 26-24. Megan McConnell led Mountain View with eight kills; Chelsea Allen added five kills and 10 aces. Pinewood lost what coach Cayse Kaveny called “a tough five-game match” Friday to University. After dropping the first game 26-24, the host Panthers won 25-23 and 25-22 to take the lead. But University rallied to win the next two games to capture the match. Mika Chan finished with a match-high 33 digs for Pinewood and freshman Hailie Eackles added a season-best 19 kills and 19 digs. Sammie Cardenas totaled 13 kills and 29 digs, while Audrey Proulx recorded 38 assists and 16 digs. Gunn cruised to a 25-12, 25-7, 25-6 home win over Branham Friday. Lauren Ding contributed 11 kills and three blocks for the Titans (2-0). Kelsey Teramoto added 10 aces.
Cross country
Mountain View won every division of Thursday”s Lynbrook Center Meet, which included 10 teams. Spartans sophomore Garrett Rowe won the boys varsity race.
Boys soccer
Nick Field scored both goals for Pinewood — including a booming shot from outside of the penalty area — in Friday”s 4-2 home loss to Valley Christian-Dublin. Panthers coach Daniel Cristiani said, “Connor Whitlock had an outstanding game, despite having to play all of the field positions during the hard-fought loss.” The Private Schools Athletic League game was tied until late in the second half when Valley Christian scored twice. Pinewood fell to 1-2 in league.
Girls tennis
Homestead topped host Pinewood 5-2 in non-league play Friday. Angela Gradiska won at No. 1 singles for the Panthers.
