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The Menlo-Atherton girls' tennis team avenged a first-round loss to Carlmont on its own courts by handing the host Scots a 4-3 loss on their courts Tuesday, forcing a two-way tie for first place in the PAL Bay Division race.

Carlmont and M-A are both 11-1 in league.

Perhaps the most crucial match for the Bears (13-5 overall) came at No. 1 singles where M-A's Samantha Andrew upset Cori Sidell, 6-3, 6-3. Sidell is considered the No. 1 singles player in the league.

The Bears' Valerie Giordano also earned a tough victory at No. 4 singles, 6-1, 2-6, 6-1. In doubles, Maria Londono Tobon and Madeleine Samuelian posted a 6-1, 6-4 victory while the No. 3 tandem of Caroline Kelly and Amelia Tiemann also won, 6-0, 6-3.

While the Bears were moving into a tie for first with only two regular-season matches remaining, another local team was holding on to the top spot in its league race.

In the SCVAL El Camino Division, the Gunn girls set up a showdown for the division title with a 5-2 victory over visiting Cupertino at the Cubberley Community Center courts on Tuesday.

The Titans improved to 10-0 in league (12-7 overall) and will visiting Homestead (9-1) next Tuesday to decide the division crown. Gunn swept the doubles against Cupertino to secure the victory.

In the West Bay Athletic League (Foothill Division), Sacred Heart Prep (3-4, 9-9) dropped a 6-1 decision to host Harker.

In the WBAL Skyline Division, Castilleja held on to first place with a 6-1 win over host Mercy-San Francisco at Westlake Park.

In the SCVAL De Anza Division, Palo Alto won its third straight match and avenged an earlier loss to Los Altos with a 4-3 triumph on the Eagles' courts. Junior standout Ashlii Budhiraja posted a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles for the Vikings (4-5, 13-7) while senior Tiffany Nguyen and junior Julianne Le teamed for a 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) win at No. 1 doubles.

Cross country
The Palo Alto girls didn't have any runners among the top 10, but still finished second at the SCVAL Preview No. 2 meet on Tuesday over a 3.1-mile layout at Sunnyvale's Baylands Park.

The Vikings scored 89 points while trailing only Monta Vista (73). Nora Rosati led Paly with a 12th-place finish of 20:38. Katie Foug (15th, 20:43.1), Chika Kasahara (16th, 20:43.6), Audrey DeBruine (20th, 21:18) and Emma Ramey (26th, 21:25) rounded out the Vikings' scoring.

The Gunn girls, still missing junior standout Sarah Robinson, finished fifth in the team scoring and were led by Gillian Meeks. She took sixth in 20:12. Robinson has run in one one meet this season due to a medical condition and first-year coach Craig Blockhus is unsure if Robinson will run again this season.

Paly and Gunn both will compete in the Monterey Bay Invitational on Friday at Toro Park in Salinas, site of the Central Coast Section Championships next month.

In the boys' race, Palo Alto finished ninth and Gunn 10th. David Lee-Heidenreich led the Titans with a 13th place of 17:23, while Paly was led by Nate Cook's 20th place in 17:33.

Girls' golf
Playing the unfamiliar back nine at Palo Alto Hills Golf & Country Club, Sacred Heart Prep avenged an earlier four-shot loss to its Valparaiso neighbor with a narrow 243-245 win over Menlo in WBAL Foothill Division action Tuesday. Jessica Koenig shot 43 and Maddy Ellison a 44 to pace the Gators (6-3, 7-5) past the Knights (4-5), who were led by Jessie Rong's 43 and Caroline Broderick's 44.

Girls' water polo
Gunn saw its perfect season in the SCVAL De Anza Division disappear in a 9-8 upset loss to host Los Gatos on Tuesday.

The Titans (8-1, 12-5) held a 6-4 halftime lead and took a 7-5 advantage into the fourth quarter before giving up four goals to the Wildcats. Junior Caroline Anderson scored four goals to pace the Titans, who still lead the division.

In another De Anza Division match, Palo Alto (6-3, 10-8) suffered a 5-3 loss to host Lynbrook.

In the PAL Ocean Division, Kaelen Dunn scored three goals and Yasmine El-Hage added two to help Menlo School pull out a 7-6 overtime victory over host Hillsdale as the Knights (8-2, 9-5) won their fourth straight.

Boys' water polo
Palo Alto hung tough for a half, but was held scoreless in the final period and dropped a 12-8 decision to host Monta Vista in SCVAL De Anza Division play Tuesday. Bret Pinsker scored five goals to pace the Vikings (6-4, 12-6).

In nonleague action, host Menlo School got three goals each from Andreas Katsis and Chris Xi but the Knights still dropped a 13-8 decision to De La Salle. Spencer Witte had 10 saves in goal for Menlo (8-8).

— Palo Alto Online Sports

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