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Uploaded: Thursday, November 19, 2009, 9:42 AM
Updated: Friday, November 20, 2009, 9:11 AM

Paly's next volleyball win could be biggest ever
Vikings take on nationally No. 1-ranked Mitty in CCS Division II finals Saturday

by Keith Peters
Palo Alto Online Staff

Posted by NotReallyRight, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 19, 2009 at 7:46 pm

Congratulations to the Palo Alto High School Lady Vikings! They have had an amazing season, and have fought hard to stay in the running. It's a shame that the season will be capped by a game against Mitty. Everyone knows that private schools recruit. It's no secret. From football, to volleyball to basketball, these schools offer tuition and scholarship to induce players to be on their teams. CCS stands for Condoned Cheating Section . It amuses me that some of these schools are religious, isn't cheating frowned upon? CCS. by allowing this travesty to continue year after year condones stacked teams playing against teams that have to cull their talent from their residential enrollment. I find the entire situation disgusting, and have for years. It's educational to play these private schools in tournaments, it helps raise the level of play, but when it comes to the opportunity to go to State, public school teams consistently hit a glass ceiling. Years ago, when Palo Alto basketball got to State, we watched the game on TV. The derogatory statements of the announcers about Paly being a 'Public school' were almost too much to take! When Paly WON, they acted like a crime had somehow been committed. A crime HAS been committed, allowing stacked teams to compete against honest programs. All of the public school athletes know of their inevitable outcome, so as far as most of us are concerned, Palo Alto Lady Vikings won State last night.

Posted by Those in glass houses, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Nov 19, 2009 at 7:55 pm

I'd be a little careful throwing recruiting accusations. For the Paly basketball team that won the state tournament, you might want to check where all of those kids lived.

Posted by Mic, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 20, 2009 at 1:09 am

Have you seen Mitty play this year, what a team. Sorry Paly, will have to be showen the door and 2nd place. You are no match for a team this good. I wish you luck...

Posted by Enough, a resident of the Palo Alto Orchards neighborhood, on Nov 20, 2009 at 10:46 am

"Sorry Paly, you will be shown the door" yeah, like Paly has any delusions. Difficult to care if one is shown the door when the door is operated by cheaters. Mitty is not a team 'that good', they are a team 'that stacked'. Paly could compete with Mitty or anyone else if they went out and recruited the best club players from all over the Country. Check the roster, every girl on that team, on every team over the years, is from Palo Alto in the Paly district. Glass house? So you are saying maybe one player was brought in from somewhere else? Compare that to just about EVERY PLAYER ON EVERY TEAM IN EVERY PRIVATE SCHOOL IN THIS COUNTY. Are you whining about ONE State Championship? Give me a break.

Posted by Paly fan, a member of the Palo Alto High School community, on Nov 20, 2009 at 10:59 am

I watched both semi-final matches on Wednesday night. The Paly win over Presentation was thrilling -- both teams fought hard, and you could tell they both wanted it.

Watching Mitty vs. St. Francis was like warping into an alternate universe. The Mitty team looks like they just go through the motions. They play with almost no emotion whatsoever. Even before each game, their team cheer is a half-muttered, "Mitty." They saunter onto the court as though they expect their opposition to just lay down and give them the match. There is no love of the game evident. It's a job to be done.

Almost everyone on Mitty's starting roster is a senior, so this could be the last year of their big run.

I really hope that Paly pulls off the upset. The team has a lot of moving parts, and occasionally a star player doesn't pull her weight, but when that happens it seems that other players stand taller and get the job done. Paly is also a very young team, so their future looks bright.

Go get'em, Vikes. Play with heart, a love of the game, and your fantastic team spirit.

Posted by YSK, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 20, 2009 at 9:06 pm

There's not a chance in hell Paly will win, much as we'd all like to think differently...Mitty is the #1 ranked team in the country, which is an easy feat when you recruit players from all over to be on your team. Paly girls are local kids most of whom grew up and attended middle school etc together. You will find team bonding with kids when they are a part of the community rather than an athlete brought in simply to play a game. Hit the Club Volleyball circuit, there are so many clubs now, and you will very quickly find out where the star players that play for these privates are really from. It's a small community out there, very few secrets. I ran into a sports photographer at one of the games who told that everyone even peripherally involved in CCS knows exactly how scandalous it is getting.

Posted by mike, a resident of Mountain View, on Nov 21, 2009 at 11:29 am

Its funny that someone writes about how this game is a mis match.

I actually WATCHED these teams play and I don't think this is a foregone conclusion. I know the Paly team has talent and heart.

They also have some "height" that could be used to cancel out Mitty's best player, their outside hitter.

so lets give Paly a shot, after all, thats why they play the game.

So while you are crying about mitty giving scholarships, which is NOT true, especially in VOLLEYBALL, maybe you should do something about the less fortunate schools in the public school system like Independence, Oak Grove, and the other schools in the east Side Union school district. These schools don't even have money to rent buses for their games. So NOTREALLYRIGHT, please right a fat check to Indy when you go see the final tonight.

How about just $700 so Independence can rent a bus for a day for some team.

NOT REALLY RIGHT- you sit there in your 2,000,000 house, paying taxes like you live in a shack. "The OLD PALO ALTO" neighborhood should have their taxes increased times 20!!!!!!

while you are complaing, please realize that VOLLEYBALL players are from ELITE PARENTS. By this I mean the parents pay $5,000 per year,plus travel, for their "club" teams, which is where they really learn the game.

So sour As# Paly resident. Stuff it and let this GREAT TEAM play.

WIN OR lose, these kids won't complain, but YOU WILL.

Posted by mike, a resident of Mountain View, on Nov 21, 2009 at 11:36 am

Sorry, all, I forgot,

Paly players also play club!!!

The parents of these kids chose Catholic schools because the system in San JOse and other areas outside of Palo Alto just don't give a great education at this time.

stop judging.

Posted by YSK, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Nov 21, 2009 at 6:13 pm

Wrong Mike. Don't even mention Oak Grove...we know how many of their football players have moved on to the privates as recruited players. And yes, in volleyball, we know that deal too. Yeah, the girls play club. They do in almost every league. Should we go back in time and discuss Don Gamblin and his St. Francis farm, City Beach? Or maybe Joe Ripp and HIS farm team, Vision? When you are living this stuff, you get to know it very well. These private schools cruise the high school and club teams, and try to scrape the cream off the top. One of the times it didn't work was notable, Katherine Fisher, one of the best natural volleyball players to come from this valley. She stayed at her public school and did Homestead proud. I, with a few other unnamed parents, have done some quiet investigating over the last few years, and this doesn't just include talking to other parents and kids. This includes friends working for these various private schools. THEY RECRUIT, THEY STACK THEIR TEAMS. PERIOD. Nothing wrong with that if they play one another. Like the NFL. They recruit. They are pro's. Different years, different teams come out on top. In school play, they take these teams and put them together for the top prize. Tonight's game is like Paly playing against Stanford Womens volleyball. Aren't you tired of the same schools dominating every year? What do you think makes the DeAnza league so exciting? Los Gatos, Mountain View, Los Altos, Saratoga, Homestead, Palo Alto, all have been top and bottom at different times. In all the sports. Different teams, different years, always exciting. All play with the talent in their residential enrollment, as mentioned above. I guess you may not be tired of the same team winning time and time again because you have a child enrolled in a private school, or some other personal interest. Try experiencing the frustration on the other side. Try watching when a public school vs. private school game is televised and the public school is ahead. The announcers are so shocked, and patronizing. At Valley Christian the other night, the announcer kept announcing that Ryan Cooling is coach of the year, month, day week, whatever, but NO mention that Dave Winn is DeAnza coach of the year. It's no big deal, but it is just another small example of the predominating attitude in high school sports when comparing high school vs. private schools. Just ask the Montana's. They are selling their Calistoga house because they found the private school football program that would best suit their son's skill. So give it a rest. Paly may not win tonight, but in playing an honest game, they won Wednesday night. It's not Mitty's fault, it's the fault of CCS and of the coaches and people's who sit at these games and complain, for YEARS, yet do nothing about instituting change.

Posted by Uh, right, a resident of Menlo Park, on Nov 22, 2009 at 10:50 pm

Won't comment on all your accusations, but there's one where you're flat out wrong.

Joe Ripp was the longtime coach at Los Gatos High School. He retired from that position several years ago. He probably lost more kids from his community to those dastardly private schools (mostly Mitty and SF) than any other coach. It's a credit to him that he was able to keep the 'Cats at or near the top of CCS for all those years while being out-"recruited" by all the coaches he employed at Vision ;). Funny how his "farm team" benefited all schools except his very own. (The lone counter-example that I can think of was a transfer from Saratoga to LGHS some years back. Since then, the CCS rules have changed and a similar move today would result in the player having to sit out one year.)

Congrats to Paly on a great season. And good luck to the team in NorCals and to the girls during the upcoming club season.