Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Junior Keith Busam nails a spike in last week's win over Pioneer. The Wildcats remain unbeaten in league play.

Cats clinch volleyball title

Just like their coach expected

By Dick Sparrer

Tom Jack figured his Los Gatos boys' volleyball team would win a league championship this spring.

The Wildcats had won a league title a year earlier, and they had many of their top players returning for the 1997 campaign.

So Jack figured that even a move from the West Catholic Athletic League to the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League this season wouldn't alter the Los Gatos title course.

And he figured right.

Los Gatos has two matches remaining in the BVAL season, but the Cats have already clinched the Mt. Hamilton Division title.

Gatos ran its league record to 8-0 with back-to-back wins over Leland and Pioneer last week. The Cats blitzed the Chargers 15-2, 15-1, 15-1 and ripped the Mustangs 15-4, 15-7, 15-4.

The two wins secured a first-place finish for Los Gatos, even with matches against Valley Christian and Fremont coming up this week. The Cats have now won 25 straight league matches, a record that dates back to last season when they won the WCAL championship.

Keith Busam had 10 kills, and Brad Griffith came through with eight service aces to lead the Cats to the easy win over Leland to open play last week.

"It was nearly flawless volleyball," said Jack of the win. "We gave up only four points in three games."

Busam was close behind Griffith with six aces, and Devin Sodt and Jared Bond added two apiece. Sodt served 11 points in a row in game no. 3, and Griffith served 10 straight points in game no. 3.

Chris Schlink nailed nine kills, and Griffith and Bond had three each.

Los Gatos came back to beat Pioneer in three straight two days later. The Cats played an all-senior lineup in the second game and an all-returning lineup in the third.

Busam and Griffith had nine kills each to lead the Cats to the win. Grant Schlink added five kills, and C. Schlink and Michael Bucher had four apiece.

C. Schlink led the squad with six service aces. Busam came through with five, and Griffith and Peter Beritzhoff had two each.

Los Gatos will finish the regular season on the road, visiting Valley Christian on May 6 and Fremont on May 8 for a pair of 6:30 p.m. matches. The Central Coast Section playoffs begin May 13.

Griffith, who will attend Stanford in the fall on a volleyball scholarship, will spend the summer competing for the USA Volleyball Youth National Team.

The talented Gatos senior will train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center before traveling to Italy to compete against international teams.

Golf

Matt Cuevas and Jon Stapleton each won all-league honors for the Los Gatos golf team by placing in the top 10 at the SCVAL finals played last week at the Shoreline Golf Course in Mountain View.

Cuevas recored a two-round total of 166 to finish sixth overall in the league, and Stapleton cared a 170 to finish 10th.

Los Gatos ended up sharing the league title with Wilcox and Mountain View.

Badminton

Seniors Eric Wu and Jeanne Fishback teamed for a 15-5, 15-6 win in the mixed doubles position, but the Los Gatos badminton team dropped an 11-4 decision to Los Altos in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

The Cats had lost 9-6 to Santa Clara earlier in the week. Wu and Fishback combined for a 15-1, 15-4 win, and Jessica Dake won 15-4, 15-3 in the girls' No. 1 singles spot. Adam Breed and Brendan Goggins were 15-2, 15-12 winners in the boys' No. 1 doubles position.

Tennis

Junior Al Anzoategui pulled out a tight 7-6 win in the third and final set to clinch a third-place finish in singles play at the league tennis finals for the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.

Anzoategui defeated Cupertino's John Su 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 in the third place match.

Anzoategui had beaten a Fremont opponent 6-2, 6-3 in the tournament's second round, but lost to a Mountain View foe in the semifinals.

Nathan Ricks and Eric Goldman made it to the second round of the tournament before losing 6-2, 6-1 in doubles play against a team from Mountain View.

[ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ]