March 18, 2005

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

Historic win for Palo Alto

by Keith Peters

Palo Alto boys' tennis coach Andy Harader achieved a milestone this week when his team walked off the court following its match at Monta Vista.

Palo Alto walked off with a 5-2 victory in SCVAL De Anza Division play, presenting Harader with his first-ever win over the Matadors.

"It's the first time in 15 matches that I've beaten them," Harader said. "They've been dominant for eight years and we haven't beaten them since I've been here."

Until now.

"It was a happy victory for us," Harader said. "Last year we came close . . . I think their time is over. Monta Vista is not what it was. It doesn't have the depth it had three years ago.

"It's nice to see them on the slide, or maybe it's better to look at it that we're on the rise."

Either way, Palo Alto improved to 3-2 in the division (6-2 overall) while keeping the perennial power Matadors winless at 0-3.

Monta Vista won Central Coast Section Division I titles from 1997-2002, a streak that was ended by Los Gatos. The Wildcats are now the predominant team in the SCVAL, along with Saratoga, Palo Alto and Los Altos.

"We have a lot of tough teams in our league," said Harader, whose teams played host to Saratoga on Thursday. In the teams' first meeting, the Falcons held on for a 4-3 victory.

"I think Los Gatos is the team to beat," said Harader, whose team also fell to the Wilcats, 4-3, in the first half of league play. "Our team is getting stronger. Everybody's getting on the same page."

Against Monta Vista, the No. 3 doubles team of sophomores Trevor Wagner and Kyle Shulman posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory to clinch the historic triumph. Paly picked up two singles wins from freshman Kushal Tantry at No. 3 (6-1, default) and from senior Cameron Taylor at No. 4 (6-4, 6-1).

Paly's No. 2 doubles team of senior Josh Gordon and sophomore Matt Severson set up the clinching point with a 6-0, 6-0 win. Seniors Justin Shoolery and Nick Robin added the icing with a 4-6, 6-3, 10-7 win at No. 1 doubles.

Palo Alto will host its invitational today and Saturday, weather permitting. Teams entered include St. Francis, Mitty, Gunn, San Ramon Valley and Cardinal Newman. The Vikings will play Mills at 1 p.m. and Salinas at 4 p.m. Gunn will host Mitty and San Ramon Valley in the same time slots.

On Saturday, consolation matches will be held at Gunn starting at 9 a.m., with semifinals set for Paly at the same time. The championship match is scheduled for Paly at 1 p.m.

Before heading off for spring break on April 25, Paly will host Los Altos on Tuesday and Sacred Heart Prep on Wednesday, both at 3:30 p.m. Both matches are crucial. Paly needs to beat Los Altos to keep its automatic CCS playoff berth alive while the SHP match will be good preparation for the CCS tournament. The Gators are among the section's best this season.

Sacred Heart Prep took a 7-0 record into Thursday's PSAL match against Woodside Priory and was favored to emerge with an 8-0 mark. The Gators are young and talented, with four solid singles players leading the way in Jamie Hutter, David McCall, Adam Davison and Billy McCall. Erik Blumenkranz and Tyler Snell also rotate through the singles lineup as well as doubles.

The Gators will face host Los Gatos on April 6 in what should be an interesting nonleague matchup for both teams.

Los Gatos first will take on host Menlo next Wednesday in a tuneup for the National Invitational in Newport Beach that weekend.

Menlo (6-0, 8-0) appears ready to make another run at section honors this season, with a deep lineup and a handful of experienced players. The Knights toppled Mills (6-1) and Menlo-Atherton (7-0) this week and should cruise through the PAL Bay Division undefeated once again.

Andrew Diehl, Mark Keegan, Daniel Goldstein and Jason Przybyla all swept their matches against Menlo-Atherton. Menlo coach Bill Shine has split his squad for league matches this season, giving his lineup plenty of playing time.

In the PSAL, Pinewood won its second straight match with a 7-0 romp over Valley Christian-Dublin. Vashal Natarajan, Alex Tolchin, Ben Herrmann and Adrian Amaral all won their singles matches.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.