Publication Date: Friday Nov 14, 1997

Paly volleyball advances in CCS

The Palo Alto girls volleyball team has been like a light switch this season. When the Vikings have been on, their play has grabbed the spotlight. When they've been off, dark times indeed.

Palo Alto picked the right time to be on in all facets of its game in Wednesday's opening round of the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs.

The Vikings were steady throughout, passing well and keeping errors to a minimum. That allowed Paly to dominate at the net and product a 15-7, 15-11, 9-15, 15-3 victory over host Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz (23-9) came into the match seeded seventh while Palo Alto (now 17-16) was seeded 10th. Things, however, did not go according to form for the hosts.

With the Paly back row getting the ball safely to the front, outside hitters Paige Barry and Eden Hildebrand produced 21 and 10 kills, respectively. Barry added 10 blocks and 6-1 Lindsday Terry contributed nine. The Vikings committed only three service errors.

The victory advances Paly to Saturday's quarterfinals and a rematch with SCVAL De Anza Division foe Los Gatos, which advanced with a victory over Burlingame. Los Gatos (19-12) comes into the noon match at Mitty High ranked second in the division. Palo Alto, however, played the Wildcats tough this season during two league losses.

Perhaps this third meeting finally will be a charm for the Vikings.

Cross country

The Palo Alto girls will go after a title and a berth in the state meet in Saturday's CCS meet at Crystal Springs in Belmont.

Paly will be favored in the Division III race, which goes off at 10:05 a.m., preceded by the Division III boys at 9:30 a.m. The Gunn boys will seek the Division I crown at 1:30 p.m., followed by the Titan girls at 2:05 p.m. Menlo-Atherton will race in Division II at 2:50 p.m. (boys) and 3:25 p.m. (girls).

Girls water polo

Getting a career-high six goals from senior Erin Welsh, Menlo School (17-6) defended its Girls Private School League title Wednesday with an 11-4 victory over Notre Dame-Belmont in Atherton.

Menlo blanked the visitors in the first half while grabbing a 4-0 lead. Both Menlo and Notre Dame-Belmont will compete in the CCS tournament beginning next week.

Palo Alto and Menlo-Atherton both improved their chances for a favorable seeding in the CCS tourney by posting wins in the SCVAL De Anza Division tourney this week. Paly (17-9) bounced Los Gatos, 13-8, behind seven goals from Aileen Delaney, and Menlo-Atherton (15-11) edged Monta Vista, 6-4, with Megan Bouchier scoring five times Boys water polo

Menlo School (21-10) got six goals from Zach Selmon in a 19-7 rout of Sacred Heart Prep in the opening round of the Peninsula Athletic League tournament. Menlo-Atherton, however, suffered an 11-6 loss to Aragon in the double-elimination event that wraps up Saturday at Menlo.

In the SCVAL De Anza Division tournament, Gunn (17-13) suffered an 8-6 first-round loss to host Lynbrook.

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