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Volleyball team takes title at Alisal Tournament
By Dick Sparrer
Tom Jack was hoping to see his Los Gatos boys volleyball team get off to a strong start in the 2002 spring season.
Well, how's a three-game win over Santa Clara and a tournament championship sound?
Jack has to be pleased after the Wildcats started the year with a 15-8, 15-5, 15-9 win over the Bruins in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League opener for each school, then won six straight matches to take the team title at the Alisal Tournament last Saturday.
The Cats topped host Alisal 15-15, 15-10, beat Watsonville 15-6, 15-12 and outlasted St. Lawrence Academy 13-15, 16-14, 15-4 in pool play, then whipped Live Oak 15-2, 15-3, Francis Drake of Marin 15-8, 15-6 and Leland 15-6, 15-8 to take the tourney title.
Neil Perry and Michael Conry were the Los Gatos leaders in the tournament. Perry topped the club with 30 kills, and Conry led the Cats with eight service aces.
Shaun Sullivan finished with 27 kills and five aces, and Fletcher Anderson had six aces and 15 kills.
Max Haueter added 23 kills and Trevor Cristiansen had 20.
Sullivan was the kill leader in the win over Santa Clara to open the league season. He finished the match with a team-high eight kills.
Los Gatos will be on the road for two 7 p.m. league matches this week, visiting Mountain View on March 12 and Saratoga on March 14. The Cats will be back on the floor at the Leland Tournament on March 16.
Los Gatos made a little history a week earlier when the school's boys and girls teams took the floor together for a special workout with personal trainer Cheri Anderson.
The boys team also had the opportunity to work out with a pair of former NCAA standouts last week when Matt Lyles and Scott Birdwell stopped by to host clinics for the Cats.
Lyles, a former Los Gatos volleyball star, helped the Wildcats work on jump serves and hitting against a block. Lyles is a professional volleyball player who played on an NCAA championship team at California State University, Long Beach and who was a member of the USA National Team.
Birdwell, the team captain of the 1998 Princeton team that won a conference championship and reached the NCAA final four, helped the Cats work on their passing.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
