The Cupertino Courier

Sports

Mustangs rolling up volleyball victories

By Mike Barnhart

It's no wonder that Homestead's volleyball team has been piling up victories this season. Just as in 2006, when it rolled unbeaten to the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League championship, a combination of size, strength, skill and athleticism has proven too much for most opponents to handle.

But, there is a different ingredient in the 2007 Mustangs' success recipe--senior leadership. With eight returning seniors this season, including third-year varsity players Ryan Bridge, Ryan Dedrick and Weston Buckner, Homestead has rallied from behind in several matches and built records of 10-0 in league and 24-2 overall.

Entering a match at Wilcox on April 10, Homestead rode a month-long, 19-match win streak and was ranked No. 1 in the Central Coast Section by centralcoastvolleyball.net. The winning stretch included best-of-three tournament victories over Bellarmine and previously undefeated Mountain View in the Leland Charger Classic, March 31, and a best-of-five league triumph over the Spartans three days later.

Bridge, a 6-foot-5 setter who is the team's floor leader for the third straight season, is like an assistant coach on the court for coach Matt Hoffman and the Mustangs, making smart decisions and adjusting the offense when necessary. In addition to setting up middle blockers Dedrick (6-foot-8) and sophomore Luke Rosener (6-foot-4), senior outside hitters Buckner (6-foot), Andrew Blazensky (6-foot) and Dale Park (5-foot-11) and 6-foot-3 senior opposite hitter Paul Wadensweiler for their shots, Bridge also uses his height to strengthen the team's attack and its defensive blocking ability.

Libero Brian Nguyen, another returning senior, often gets the plays going for Homestead with excellent court coverage and fine passing. Hoffman considers Nguyen among the section's best at the position.

Homestead's maturity was key in the team's comeback win at Mountain View on April 3. Fresh off taking two of three games from both Mountain View and six-time CCS champion Bellarmine en route to a 7-0 record and the Charger Classic title, the Mustangs could have been ripe for an upset.

The Mustangs dropped the first game, 25-15, but maintained their poise. They went on to capture the next three games, 25-23, 25-17, 25-20, as Buckner put away 13 kills.

Returning home the next night against always-tough Los Gatos, the Mustangs swept the Wildcats 25-21, 25-11, 25-18 behind Dedrick's nine kills.

Dedrick and Buckner put away seven kills apiece last Friday night at Fremont (2-10 league, 6-16 overall). Homestead won the first game, 25-13, but the Firebirds bounced back to win a 25-22 battle in the second. The Mustangs, though, recovered to close out the match 25-15, 25-17.

If the Mustangs win at Wilcox and against visiting Lynbrook on April 12, they will take a 21-game win streak into spring break and their next competition, the Los Gatos Invitational on April 21. That tournament and a return date with Mountain View on Senior Night, May 3, should provide Homestead with its biggest challenges prior to the CCS tournament.

Monta Vista earned its fourth win in SCVAL play, a five-game thriller over visiting Fremont on April 3. The Matadors, paced by Bryson Rovetta's 20 kills, dropped the first and third games, but responded by winning the second game 25-17 and the fourth 25-16. In the final game, the Matadors won 17-15.

Monta Vista (4-6, 7-14 overall) finished the week, sharing fifth place with Lynbrook (4-6, 8-9), behind Homestead, Mountain View (11-1), Los Gatos (6-3) and Saratoga (6-4).

Lynbrook split a pair of matches last week, sweeping Santa Clara 3-0 and bowing 3-0 to Saratoga. Senior outside hitter Tim Song had nine kills in the win over Santa Clara. Song and junior Jisu Youm were the top hitters against Saratoga, with five kills apiece.

Mats badminton leaders

Defending CCS boys champion Emmanuel Pun of Monta Vista topped Josh Chen 15-4, 15-0 in No. 1 boys singles, leading unbeaten Monta Vista past Lynbrook in SCVAL De Anza Division badminton. The Matadors improved to 7-0 in division play with a 17-13 win over the Vikings.

Connie Hwang of Lynbrook won No. 1 girls singles 15-1, 15-3.

Mats make big splash

Megan Fisher-Colbrie won the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 butterfly, leading Monta Vista to the girls championship at the seven-team Lynbrook Invitational last Saturday.

Fisher-Colbrie, who took the IM in 2:09.69 and the fly in 58.61, also swam the leadoff leg for the winning medley relay team. Margaret Huang, Elsa Cheng and Mao Ueno followed Fisher-Colbrie on the relay, which clocked 1:57.06.

Monta Vista took first in eight of the 11 events. Other winning Matadors were Audrey Kwong (1:57.42) in the 200 free, Emma Drysdale (24.67) in the 50 free and Chelsea Fong (53.61) in the 100 free. Drysdale, Fong and Megan Leung all were part of the victorious freestyle relay teams. The trio and Cheng posted 1:43.22 in the 200 and Kwong helped them post 3:44.56 in the 400.

Homestead senior Michelle Camburn captured the 500 free in 5:18.37 and Lynbrook's Stephanie Nguyen won the 100 backstroke in 1:00.04. The Mustangs finished second and the Vikings fourth in the team standings.

Bellarmine College Prep won the eight-team boys competition, followed by Lynbrook, Monta Vista, Cupertino and Homestead.

Lynbrook's Stephen Nguyen placed first in the 200 IM on 2:03.03, and teammate Terry Jiang zipped 53.53 to win the 100 butterfly. Homestead's Geovid Kali won the 50 free in 22.46 and Monta Vista's Richard Chen took the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.77.