The Cupertino Courier

Boss leads Pioneers to back-to-back wins

By Dick Sparrer

Erica Boss was a freshman who earned a starting role on the Cupertino girls' volleyball team.

A year later, she was a sophomore starter who earned an all-league berth for the Pioneers.

Now she's a junior. And Cupertino coach Marty Redman is expecting even more great things from the 5-foot-7 outside hitter.

"Erica could be a Division I player if she continues to develop," said the Cupertino volleyball coach of his talented junior star. "She might have the best jump serve in the section, she hits very hard, and she is also our best defensive player."

So it came as little surprise to see Boss excel in two Cupertino victories to open the 1997 season.

Boss came through with six kills and four aces to lead Cupertino to a rousing 15-1, 15-2, 15-5 win over Carlmont to open the year.

"We hit on 27 of our first 27 serves, which is a great way to start the year," said Redman. "We ended up with 19 aces for the match overall."

Boss came back with 13 kills, and 6-foot-1 senior middle blocker Katrina Eden added 13 kills in the 13-15, 15-2, 15-3, 15-0 win over Santa Teresa a few days later.

"We turned it up a little bit after that first game," said Redman. "We were kind of playing in the mud it looked like, and we came out pretty good after that."

Kathryn Auch, a 5-foot-4 setter, was a perfect 19-for-19 serving in the win for the Pioneers.

Boss, who was named the most valuable player in a number of tournaments this year, is the top returner for the Pioneers this fall, but Eden, Auch, Margaret Le (5-foot-2 defensive specialist), Sharon Han (5-foot-4 defensive specialist) and Melanie KeKeita (5-foot-9 middle blocker) are other top returners for Cupertino.

"All of them had a lot of playing time last year," said Redman.

All-league setter Katlyn Moro and club players Sepideh Chafari and Pomai Nei, both outside hitters, move up from last year's junior varsity squad at Cupertino.

Redman, who coaches the Pioneers along with his daughter, Laura, picks Gunn and Milpitas as the favorites in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this season, but considers his own Pioneers and Lynbrook as top contenders.

Lynbrook girls win

It was an impressive week for the girls' tennis, volleyball and water polo teams at Lynbrook.

The Vikings pulled out a tight 4-3 win over Wilcox to even their early-season tennis record at 1-1, and they knocked off Hillsdale 15-12, 15-5, 11-15, 15-9 to improve to 7-0 in the young season in volleyball.

Lynbrook hosted the Lynbrook Invitational water polo tournament, and the Vikings made it to the finals before losing a tough 7-6 decision to Castilleja.

Lynbrook opened with wins over Saratoga (7-1) and Live Oak (9-1) before beating Leland 5-3 in the semifinals.

Mats tame 'Dogs

Megan Horton had a goal and an assist to lead the Monta Vista girls' field hockey team to a 3-1 win over San Jose Academy in a nonleague game to open the 1997 season.

Cupertino lost its season opener 4-1 to Prospect despite a second-half goal by Beth Loveless off of a Stephanie French assist.

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