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By Keith Peters
Palo Alto Online

The only blemish on the Menlo-Atherton girls' water polo schedule this season is a loss to Davis in the third match of the season. That's it. Otherwise, the Bears have been downright perfect with a 23-1 record.

There was a slight chance that M-A could avenge that loss during last weekend's NorCal Invitational at UC Davis, but it didn't happen. Nor did it need to.

"St. Francis took care of Davis early and they were in the other side of the bracket," explained M-A coach Chris Rubin. "So, there was little chance we'd face them. But, that loss was early in the season and we felt like we could take care of them (had they met)."

The Bears proved they could take care of just about anyone in the state after topping No. 2 seed Campolindo (5-4) in the semifinals and then No. 1 Monte Vista (Danville), 4-3, in the championship on Saturday to become the first public school from the Peninsula to win the invitational.

"There were some who believed Monte Vista could be one of the top teams in the state," said Rubin, who added the win over Monte Vista was his team's most significant of the season. "Saturday was a great day for us. Definitely, it was a huge weekend."

The Bears went 4-0 in the two-day tournament that brought together many of the top teams in Northern California. Monte Vista featured Maggie Steffens and Kelly Mendoza, members of the U.S. Junior National Team. Steffens' older sister, Jessica, plays for Stanford and was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team.

Menlo-Atherton, however, had its own standouts in sisters Becca and Emily Dorst plus a very deep and experienced roster. The Bears grabbed a 3-1 halftime lead and Rubin said he could see in his players' eyes that they knew they could win.

Monte Vista posted solo goals in the third and fourth periods to tie the match, but M-A junior MJ O'Neill scored with 1:30 for the eventual winner.

"We still had to make two stops on defense," Rubin said. Becca Dorst blanketed Mendoza on Monte Vista's final possession, giving the Bears the ball with 10 seconds to play.

"The defense was stellar," Rubin.

Emily Dorst came up with 12 saves while O'Neill added two assists and two steals while Becca Dorst scored twice and sophomore reserve Brittany Krappe added a solo goal. Remarkably, Rubin was able to play 11 of his 15 players.

"There was no way, if my starters had to pace themselves, that we could win that game," said Rubin, who has spent this season making sure everyone got a chance to play. That valuable experience for the reserve players paid off in a big way Saturday.

"Five years ago, in my first year, I just focused on six kids," Rubin explained. "I think that hurt us last year (in a loss to St. Francis in the CCS Division I finals). I should have gone to my bench more (during the season)."

This season he has, and he feels comfortable with whomever is in the pool.

Emily Dorst finished the tournament with 46 blocks while Becca Dorst tallied nine goals and had 12 steals.

The third-seeded Bears, who have won 21 straight this season, reached the title match with a 5-4 victory over No. 2 seed Campolindo. Becca Dorst led the way with four goals and five steals while Emily stopped 11 shots. The Bears trailed by 4-3 going into the fourth quarter.

On the first day, senior Vanessa Lane scored three goals and Emily Dorst had 18 saves in a 7-2 second-round win over St. Francis (Sacramento). The Bears opened the tourney with a 13-5 victory over St. Ignatius. Lane led the way with three goals and four steals while nine players scored.

Sacred Heart Prep (17-7) finished seventh in the tournament following a 5-3 victory over St. Francis (Sacramento) on Saturday. Emily Parsons scored two goals and goalie Catherine Donahoe had 10 saves for the Gators.

Sacred Heart went 2-2 in the tourney. The Gators opened with a 9-6 victory over Leland as Sarah Westcott scored three goals and Donahoe had 15 saves. In the second round, SHP dropped a 10-1 decision to Monte Vista. Donahoe had 10 saves.

On Saturday in Round 3, the Gators dropped a 4-2 match to Davis despite 14 saves by Donahoe before beating St. Francis (Sacramento).

Castilleja (16-8) finished ninth in the tournament, going 3-1 but failing to finish higher after losing its opener to Clovis West, 10-8. The Gators bounced back to beat Menlo (10-4), top St. Ignatius (9-6) and defeat Leland in the ninth-place game, 8-7. Senior Katie Eulau scored four goals against Leland, junior Natasha von Kaeppler led the way against SI with four goals and junior Sayeh Borzorghadad tallied five goals in the win over Menlo. Junior goalie Evan Cranston had 35 saves in the four matches.

Menlo-Atherton, Sacred Heart Prep, Castilleja and Menlo will all be busy again this week with league tournaments.

In the Peninsula Athletic League tourney, Menlo will host the Hillsdale/Mercy-Burlingame winneer on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Top-seeded Menlo-Atherton will host a semifinal on Friday at 3:15 p.m., while No. 2 Castilleja plays a semifinal on Friday (at Menlo-Atherton) at 4:30 p.m. The league finale will be Saturday (2 p.m.) in the Bears' pool.

Boys' water polo
Sacred Heart Prep went 3-1 and finished fifth at the annual Memorial Tournament last weekend at Bellarmine Prep in San Jose. The Gators (19-5) opened with an 11-6 win over Foothill (Santa Ana) but lost to Corona del Mar in the second round, 9-5.

Sacred Heart bounced back with an 8-7 win over Harvard-Westlake as David Culpan had five goals and goalie Ben Dearborn had eight saves. In the fifth-place game, SHP held off Miramonte, 10-9, at Culpan scored five goals and Connor Still added three. Senior backup goalie Beaugart Gerber made 10 saves for SHP.

Mater Dei won the tournament with Newport Harbor second. Sacred Heart Prep had the highest finish of any Northern California team while host Bellarmine finished eighth and ranked as the No. 2 team from the CCS.