Publication Date: Friday, May 06, 2005
Title contenders hoping AP exams won't be a conflict
Title contenders hoping AP exams won't be a conflict
(May 06, 2005) by Keith Peters
The Central Coast Section team tennis championships are a test enough without any outside distractions. Throw in the possibility of players taking AP exams on match days and you have, well, a testy situation.
Menlo School, top-seeded in the CCS Division II bracket, could be without No. 2 singles player Christian Hansen and doubles player Andrew Grauer if the Knights reach the championship match on May 12 at Courtside Tennis Club in Los Gatos.
Hansen and Grauer are scheduled to take AP exams in the morning and afternoon that day. The Division I and II finals are set for noon and 2 p.m.
"There's a makeup day, but they need to contact some teachers," said Menlo coach Bill Shine. "They just need to do that soon. I'm just hoping they can get them changed."
Palo Alto senior Dan Snyder has an AP exam scheduled Tuesday. That's the same day the Vikings could face unbeaten Bellarmine in the Division I semifinals.
"I have kids affected (by the exams), but I told them to move them," said Paly coach Andy Harader. "I told the kids we have 10 days (since the brackets came out Monday. That's it. Lets clear everything else away and focus."
Menlo and Palo Alto likely aren't the only teams that could be affected if the exams aren't changed. Gunn (15-10) is still alive in Division I after a 6-0 victory over Silver Creek in the opening round Wednesday. Sacred Heart Prep also is among the Division II field.
Aside from perhaps Gunn, will is scheduled to visit top-seeded Los Gatos (19-6) today at 3 p.m., the three other local teams all have legitimate shots at section titles and NorCal berths.
"Definitely," said Harader. "Down the road, we have a legitimate shot at it. We're excited and the guys are pumped up."
Palo Alto (15-3) is seeded third and is scheduled to face the Leland-Aptos winner today at 3 p.m. A victory will earn the Vikings a date with No. 2 Bellarmine (20-0) on Tuesday in San Jose. Should Paly reach the finals, Los Gatos is expected to be the opposition.
Paly lost twice to Los Gatos this season in the SCVAL De Anza Division, both times by 4-3 scores. The Vikings, however, are heavy with seniors who have played in the CCS tournament before and are ready for one final challenge.
Harader expects to go with seniors Justin Shoolery, Todd Shulman and Snyder in singles (with freshman Kushal Tantry) while seniors Nick Robin and Cameron Taylor make up No. 1 doubles and senior Josh Gordan teams with sophomore Matt Severson at No. 2. Sophomores Trevor Wagner and Kyle Shulman hold forth at No. 3 doubles.
In the Division II bracket, everything is pointing toward a Menlo-Sacred Heart Prep showdown in the finals.
The Knights (19-3) are seeded No. 1 and the Gators (18-1) are No. 2. Menlo is expected to host Harker today at 3 p.m. while Sacred Heart Prep will open against the Mills-St. Ignatius winner at 3 p.m.
Sacred Heart Prep should face No. 3 Saratoga (13-5) in the semifinals on Tuesday in Atherton. The Falcons are the defending Division II champions, upending Menlo in last season's title match.
Menlo has the easiest road to the finals. An expected win over Harker likely puts the Knights opposite Burlingame, a PAL Bay Division rival that Menlo defeated by 7-0 and 6-1 scores this season.
"It's a pretty easy road to the finals, but I'm not going to let the guys know it," Shine said. "I've told them even though we should win our first two matches, it's one and done if we lose. We can't afford to play subpar in these first two matches if we expect to win in the finals.
"The best time of the season is now," Shine continued. "A lot of it is mental. We pretty much know we can but, but it's how we win."
Menlo and Sacred Heart Prep had a match scheduled earlier, but it was rained out with the Knights holding a 3-0 lead and leading in every remaining match. Sacred Heart Prep, however, had players out of position and everything is different now.
"It's a dangerous match to go in to," Shine said of the possibility of facing SHP in the finals.
Then again . . .
"They haven't had a close match all year," Shine added. "We're going to use that to our advantage. The (Menlo) kids are used to playing close matches. This is the first year they (SHP) are on the main stage. Two years ago we won NorCals. We'll use that experience, hopefully to our advantage."
Shine is confident in his doubles and sees a possible sweep there. In singles, however, Sacred Heart Prep is loaded with talented young players. The operative word, however, is young. Two of the Gators' top singles players are freshmen (Jamie Hutter and Billy McCall) and the other two (Adam Davison and David McCall) are sophomores.
In addition, this is the first time a Sacred Heart Prep boys' team has been seeded in the CCS tournament.
"We're very excited to be seeded No. 2," said SHP coach Losaline Mafileo. "They're eager and they're excited. I feel like my boys are ready."
Sacred Heart did beat Los Gatos and Monta Vista this season, but neither squad played its best players. Matches against Saratoga and Palo Alto were cancelled by those teams. Mafileo believes those teams and others took her Gators too lightly this season. SHP, on the other hand, didn't play its strongest lineup against Homestead and suffered a 5-2 loss.
Mafileo says the word is out know that SHP is for real. Now, the Gators just need to drive that home with a few more victories.
"Both Saratoga and Menlo have been there before," she said. "This is all new to us. Our goal is to meet Menlo in the finals."
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