Palo Alto girls hope to net a tie for first in tennis this week

Vikings (6-1) need to knock off division-leading Mountain View on Thursday; Castilleja continues to remain undefeated

The showdown is at hand for the Palo Alto girls' tennis team, which plays host to Mountain View on Thursday with the SCVAL El Camino Division title hanging in the balance.

Palo Alto, which began the week with a 6-1 record in division play, suffered its only loss in SCVAL play to Mountain View on Sept. 23. The Vikings need to beat the Spartans this week in order to grab a share of first place.

Paly (8-5 overall) tuned up for the title showdown by winning three of four matches last week, including an easy 6-1 victory over Wilcox last Thursday. As has been the case in most of the matches this season, junior Maren Thomas sparked the win with a straight-set victory at No. 1 singles.

As consistent as Thomas has been, Paly's strength also has been in doubles. The teams of Kristen Derby-Elizabeth Brackenbury, Anne Traeger-Kendall Smith and Melissa Ho-Hillary Street have provided a strong foundation for the team's success this season.

While Palo Alto goes for a share of first place this week, Castilleja (4-0, 5-0) will attempt to remain there in Private Schools Athletic League play. The Gators swept past Fremont Christian, 7-0, in their most recent match last week as Michelle Forrest, Dominique Alepin, Lindsay Austin and Aline Wong lost just four games total in the four singles matches.

Castilleja plays host to Pinewood on Thursday at Cubberley in an important PSAL match at 3:30 p.m.

Gunn, meanwhile, is hanging with the leaders in the SCVAL De Anza Division following a 6-1 win over Lynbrook last week. Christine Feng, Tanya Cheng and Caitlin Looney staked the Titans (4-4, 5-4) to a 3-0 lead in singles. Michelle Feng and Belin Liu teamed for a 6-1, 6-1 win in doubles to wrap things up.

Cross country

The Palo Alto girls tuned up for Thursday's Center Meet at Crystal Springs by running to second place at the Clovis Invitational last weekend at Redwood Park. Katie Brizgys led the way for the Vikings by taking third in 18:50 over the 3.1-mile layout. Andi Forker (12th in 19:50) and Lauren Currie (13th in 19:52) gave Paly a solid triple threat.

Gunn took seventh in the girls' division with Katya Kazakova taking seventh in 19:30.

--Keith Peters

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