Publication Date: Friday, September 09, 2005
PREP ROUNDUP
Menlo boys get busy again in NorCal water polo tourney
Menlo boys get busy again in NorCal water polo tourney
(September 09, 2005) by Keith Peters
It's hard, sometimes, to pinpoint the turning point in any team's season. It could be one game, or a stretch of them, that makes or breaks a schedule.
The Menlo School boys' water polo team had a number of stretches that led to its success in 2004. One such stretch came at the beginning of the season, when the Knights went 5-0 and captured the annual John Schmitt NorCal Invitational.
"It's a great way to start the year," said Menlo coach Jack Bowen. "You get at least four really solid games, sometimes five."
Menlo once again will have a tough schedule when play in the 32-team tournament gets under way today at four pools. The Knights will open against Campolindo at Saratoga High at 2:40 p.m.
Campolindo lost a match by one goal Wednesday to De La Salle, which defeated Menlo last season. A victory should earn Menlo a date with Soquel in the second round, while 2004 runnerup Clovis West looms in a third-round match Saturday.
Another tough match today finds Gunn taking on Davis at 5:10 p.m. at Lynbrook High. Also entered is Palo Alto and Sacred Heart Prep. A total of 12 teams from the Central Coast Section are entered, including Los Altos and defending CCS Division II champion St. Francis.
Along with Davis and Clovis West, other top NorCal teams include Jesuit of Sacramento. The top eight teams from today will play at Bellarmine Prep on Saturday.
Bowen, for one, doesn't see this weekend as a title defense.
"CCS is what you defend," he said. "About two-thirds of these teams haven't even played yet. We certainly have some kinks to iron out."
Local girls also will be busy in tournament action this weekend. Menlo-Atherton and Palo Alto will open their respective seasons in the annual Clovis Invitational today and Saturday.
The Menlo and Castilleja girls, meanwhile, will stay closer to home. The defending CCS champion Knights (1-0) will host two matches Saturday, facing Marin Catholic at 10:30 a.m. and Drake at 12:30 p.m. Also at Menlo will be Castilleja (2-3), which will play Drake 9:30 a.m. and Marin Catholic at 11:30 a.m.
Menlo and Castilleja opened their respective seasons on Tuesday in the annual Stanford Challenge at Avery Aquatic Center. Menlo cruised to a 14-4 win over Carondelet of Concord while Castilleja was edged by Los Altos, 7-6.
Megan Burmeister, Camy Sullivan and Kim Krueger all scored three goals for Menlo with Whitney Allen and Angie McPhaul adding two each. The Knights jumped to a 6-1 lead with 3:46 left in the second quarter.
Jayne Appel, a 6-foot-4 basketball center who has committed to play hoops for Stanford in 2006, scored a goal for the visitors.
For Castilleja, which went 2-2 in the Dennis Fosdic Peninsula Challenge last weekend in the Gators' pool, Jessie Carr scored four goals to lead the way against Los Altos. Carr scored three straight goals to pull the Gators to within 7-6 with 58 seconds to play and actually had a chance to tie with 28 seconds remaining, only to have a pass intercepted.
Baseball
Palo Alto will have a new coach for the 2006 season, Joel Kaufman of Bishop O'Dowd in Alameda.
The highly regarded Kaufman coached the Dragons for seven years, winning four HAAL titles and earning numerous appearances in the North Coast Section playoffs.
Kaufman replaces Pete Colombo, who quit the Vikings near the end of last season - citing personal problems.
Girls tennis
CCS tennis powers Menlo and Sacred Heart Prep will be in Fresno this weekend for the annual Peach Tree Classic, featuring many of the top teams from Northern California.
Closer to home, Palo Alto will host its own invitational today and Saturday. The Vikings (1-0) will open against rival Gunn today at 1 p.m., with Paly taking on San Ramon at 4 p.m., followed by Gunn against Salinas.
The semifinals will be Saturday at 9 a.m., with the finals at 1 p.m.
Palo Alto opened its season Wednesday with a 7-0 nonleague win at Menlo-Atherton. Chrissy Hu, Ilene Rafii, Lisa Ke and Vrinda Ghanna swept the singles. Only one match went three sets - Rafii beating Brooke Keating at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 4-6, 10-7.
Castilleja (1-0) opened its season with a 5-2 triumph over Notre Dame-Belmont at the Cubberley Community Center. Anisha Bhalla and Nikki Ryu won their singles matches and the Gators swept the doubles.
Girls volleyball
Castilleja is off to a 5-1 start after sweeping visiting Urban (San Francisco) on Wednesday, 26-24, 25-15, 25-16. Ariel Baxterbeck had 19 kills and eight digs to pace the Gators, while Chelsea Ono-Horn added 10 kills and eight blocks. Annie Given contributed 11 blocks.
The Gators finished third in the championship division of the annual Milpitas Spikefest last weekend, toppling CCS powers Presentation and Sacred Heart Cathedral along the way. Baxterbeck had 38 kills, 24 digs and 17 blocks as Castilleja went 4-1. She had match highs of 12 kills and six blocks in the win over Presentation and 10 digs against SH Cathedral.
Palo Alto (1-1) evened its season mark with a 25-20, 25-14, 25-14 nonleague win over visiting Half Moon Bay on Wednesday. Lindsey Spiegelman paced the Vikings with 11 kills, 18 digs and hit .348. Becca Hagemann added nine kills while Ariel Ajagu contributed seven kills and six blocks.
E-mail a friend a link to this story. | 
