The Cupertino Courier
Sports
Mustangs shoot for league, CCS titles
By Mike Barnhart
Although it has been 10 years since the Central Coast Section added boys volleyball to its family, only three schools--Bellarmine, Los Gatos and Mt. Madonna--have won a section championship in the sport.
Homestead, a contender in all 10 of the CCS's post-season tournaments but a finalist only once, expects to reach the field of 16 again this season and hopes to reach the championship game for the second time. The Mustangs' only previous appearance in a CCS title match was in 2000, but they lost to Bellarmine.
With 10 players back from last season's team that went unbeaten in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and finished 26-5 overall, head coach Matt Hoffman thinks the 2007 squad could earn its third straight league title and make the CCS tourney field for the 11th straight season.
"This should be another good year for us," predicted Hoffman last week, after the Mustangs ran their early-season record to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in league with three-game sweeps over Lynbrook and Fremont.
The Mustangs expected their first tough league match when they traveled to Los Gatos on March 20.
The Wildcats, whose three CCS titles rank second only to Bellarmine's six, won the 2006 championship after finishing second to Homestead in league play.
Homestead had earned the top seed in the CCS tourney by going 14-0 in the SCVAL and 25-4 overall, but it suffered a five-game loss to Sacred Heart Cathedral in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Los Gatos, the No. 3 seed, won four matches in a row, including the finale over Sacred Heart.
Hoffman's Mustangs are loaded with talent, including a trio of seniors who earned all-SCVAL honors in 2006.
Ryan Bridge, a 6-foot-5 setter, is the "quarterback" of the team and directs play on the court for the Mustangs. Bridge was named Most Valuable Player for the team and the SCVAL last season.
Many of Bridge's passes will go to either 6-foot-8 middle blocker Ryan Dedrick or 6-foot outside hitter Weston Buckner. Dedrick was a first team all-league selection as a junior, while Buckner was a second team pick.
Other returning seniors are libero Bryan Nguyen, outside hitters Dale Park and Andrew Blazensky, opposite hitter Paul Wadensweiler and defensive specialist Nhan Nguyen.
Joining Dedrick at middle blocker will be 6-foot-4 sophomore Luke Rosener, who was a big contributor as a freshman. Outside hitter Andrew Leamon is another returning sophomore.
Mats' first boys team
Meanwhile, Monta Vista is fielding a team for the first time and becomes the ninth team in the SCVAL.
"Although we are considered the underdog of the league, we think we will surprise some with the strides we have made already," head coach Lori Gragnola explained. "Our goal this season is to qualify for CCS as a first-year team. We would like to take fifth place in our league."
The Matadors surprised Santa Clara on March 13, sweeping the Bruins 3-0. It was the first match victory for Monta Vista. The fledgling squad finished the week 1-2 in league play and 1-8 overall.
"My boys are learning everything about being a volleyball team," noted Gragnola, a former Saratoga High athlete who coaches the Saratoga girls in the fall and the Kennedy Middle School girls in the winter. "It even took them some time to cheer for winning points."
The Matadors' roster features eight seniors, including club player Brett Gilbert and basketball players Ben Hodges and Kevin Schroeder. Other seniors are Brian Bedord, Hamish Ferguson, Chris Hara, Darryl Tom and Jeffrey Wang. Of the team's 15 players, only two have played competitively since middle school.
Gragnola praised the willingness of volunteer coach Jeremy Ebbink to head up a junior varsity squad.
"We had overwhelming interest during tryouts, and luckily Jeremy was willing to volunteer his time to a JV team," Gragnola praised. "Because of him, we are able to run a full program."
Many varsity team members were coached at Kennedy by Jim Ogden, who died in 2003 of ALS, known commonly as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Before each game, the players huddle together and pay tribute to the former Kennedy coach.
"The inspiration of many of these players stems from Jim Ogden," Gragnola said. "He was able to convince these players they could achieve anything. Our season is dedicated to Jim."
After hosting Mountain View on March 21, the Matadors play at Homestead the next evening at 6:45 p.m.
Fast start for Mustangs
Homestead's swimming teams both are 2-0 in El Camino Division dual meets after rolling over Los Gatos and Milpitas. More importantly, several individuals and all of the relay teams already have qualified for the CCS championships in May.
Heading into a home meet March 22 against Cupertino, sophomore Paul Kim had beaten the standards for the 50-, 100- and 200-yard free events, the individual medley, butterfly and backstroke. Junior Geovid Kali (50) and freshman Kivanc Karagulle (500 free) also had made the cut, while seniors Derrick Lee and Alex Romanko, juniors Jeffrey Meadows and Kyle Hu and sophomore Jonathan Lee all have come close.
Senior Michelle Camburn and freshmen Anne Peanasky and Jesse Bergman have qualified in multiple events for the Homestead girls. Senior Emily Pool and sophomore Lisa Yao also have made the cut. Juniors Stephanie Kung, Jessica Lawrence and Kristy Peanasky all are relay team members that are working to qualify in their individual events.
Lau, Palacio top seniors
Jessica Lau of Monta Vista has been named Senior of the Year by SCVAL-De Anza Division girls soccer coaches recently. Lau was one of five Matadors selected to the all-De Anza first team. The others were seniors Alex Gatley, Jenny Kute and Emily Rubin and junior Rosa Ahn.
Other first team choices included seniors Michelle Grabau, Melanie Jones and Megan Foertsch of Homestead, Samantha Mason and Sofie Lynn of Los Gatos and Lisa Brenner of Saratoga. Rachelle Comeau of Los Gatos was picked Sophomore of the Year.
Monta Vista senior Jennifer Nguyen and sophomore teammate Shandon Rovetta were joined on the second team by sophomores Diana Charrier and Kristine Roome of Homestead and freshmen Jan Iyer of Saratoga and Kelly Hoose of Los Gatos.
Brittany Palacio of Cupertino was tabbed as Senior of the Year in the El Camino Division, sharing the award with Kristine Higgins of Milpitas.
Other special awards went to Lynbrook's Daphne Taller (Sophomore of the Year), Fremont's Kerri Robinson (Sophomore of the Year) and Cupertino's Katie Boyle (Freshman of the Year).
The El Camino Division's first team included senior Ashley Wakefield and sophomores Cici Kobinski and Christine Adame of Cupertino and senior Kendra Wood and sophomore Amy Moffett of Lynbrook.
Second team choices included senior Amanda Cook and sophomore Natalie Cannon of Cupertino and sophomores Marissa Kan and Melissa Okter of Lynbrook.
