by Keith Peters
Palo Alto High volleyball coach Nick Vleisides was both pleased and surprised when his team received a No. 5 seed in the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs--and was sent on the road. Normally, a fifth seed stays home for a first-round match. But, because South San Francisco was a league champ and Paly finished second in the SCVAL El Camino Division, the Vikings were forced to pack their bags--despite the face SSF was seeded 12th.
Actually, going on the road may help Palo Alto tonight in its first-round match at 7 p.m. The Vikings played at SSF in the first round last year and lost.
"Last year, they (the Vikings) were just so happy to go to CCS," Vleisides said. Paly, however, was forced to change its lineup because Amy Peters was on crutches following double foot surgery. That, and the fact a victory meant facing eventual state champ Mitty, made for a downer of an opener.
"It's a different story this year," Vleisides said, "because we could go a long way. We're stronger and more experienced."
Palo Alto brings a 23-8 record into match against SSF (21-9), which captured the weak North Peninsula League title. The Vikings also bring with them the motivation of avenging last year's loss.
A victory over SSF will send Palo Alto into a second-round CCS match Saturday at 4 p.m. at Los Altos, probably against the host Eagles. After that could be a possible matchup against top-seeded Del Mar in the semifinals on Nov. 16.
"They have to look ahead and see they have a chance to go to the semifinals," Vleisides said of his team. "And anything goes at that point."
The Vikings put the finishing touches on their second-place finish (11-3) in the El Camino Division by overcoming scrappy Gunn, 16-14, 6-15, 16-14, 15-11, last Thursday.
While Palo Alto gets an early start in the CCS tournament, three other local teams won't get started until Saturday.
Third-seed Pinewood (17-8) opens up Division V play against The King's Academy (13-13) at Los Altos High at 11 a.m. Top-seeded Sacred Heart Prep, meanwhile, will have a bye until Nov. 15. The Gators wrapped up the regular season last week by defeating Notre Dame-Belmont for the GPSL playoff title, 15-5, 15-1, 15-10.
In Division II, Menlo-Atherton (16-12), seeded seventh, will take on No. 2 Piedmont Hills (19-9) on Saturday at Mitty High at 1 p.m. The Bears earned their way into the tournament by reaching the PAL Shaughnessy playoffs last week and then beating Burlingame for the title, 5-15, 15-10, 15-9, 16-14.
M-A went into the match not knowing what its fate would be if it lost, since league champ Woodside had been beaten a night earlier and expected to face the winner between Burlingame and M-A in a playoff challenge game.
That extra match never transpired. M-A received the league's No. 1 bid to CCS and Burlingame the second automatic bid. Bears' coach Phil Coyle, however, told his players that a loss meant they would stay home.
"I really didn't know officially about the CCS ruling until after the match," Coyle said. "I just told them to take care of business on our side of the net. They kind of understood that."
Faced with possibly missing out on a CCS berth, the Bears rallied from a ragged first-game outing and powered past the visitors. Reliable junior Tracie Hubbard had 19 kills to lead the way on sets from Anne Robinson, and Oli Niupalavu added 11 kills.
Water polo
Palo Alto prepared for this week's SCVAL De Anza Division tournament, Thursday through Saturday at Lynbrook High, by going 1-2 in the Wildcat Wrap-Up Tournament last weekend at West Valley College.
The Vikings lost to top-ranked Bellarmine, 13-9, in the opener as Jon Barnea scored five goals for Paly. Barnea tallied four more in a 7-5 win over Harbor, then Dave Marzoni scored four times in a 10-9 loss to league rival Mountain View.
Back up to the Table of Contents Page