Saratoga, Westmont golfers rolling to league victories

By Dick Sparrer

Jacob Vigil, Kevin Nabbefeld and the rest of the Saratoga High golfers are hard to beat when they're playing on their home course at the Saratoga Country Club.

And when they're not at home?

Well, they're pretty tough to beat then, too.

Wilcox and Cupertino found out just how tough those Falcons can be. Saratoga beat Wilcox twice and Cupertino once in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League last week.

Vigil and Nabbefeld led the Falcons to wins over Wilcox (205-240) and Cupertino (205-253) early in the week in a double dual match on the fairways at the Saratoga Country Club.

Vigil, the senior leader of the Saratoga squad, fired a five-over par 39, and Nabbefeld, a sophomore, matched his score to lead the Falcons to the victory.

Sung Kang and Daniel Ruby each finished the nine-hole round at 42, and Brian Mann ended up with a 43.

Later in the week, Saratoga traveled down the road to the Santa Clara Golf Course to challenge Wilcox on its home course. The team results ended up much the same.

The Falcons pulled out a 214-230 win over the Chargers to improve to 4-0 in the league season.

Vigil, Nabbefeld and junior Robert Pfeifer led the way for the Falcons with matching 42s. Mann and Ruby each ended up with a 44 for Saratoga.

Warriors win

Marc Christiansen shot even par 35 last Thursday, and Mike Vivona fired a one-over 36 a day later to lead the Westmont golf team to back-to-back victories over Willow Glen at Riverside.

Christiansen's 35 sparked the Warriors to a 193-206 win over the Rams. Eric Larsen and Chris Carviero each finished at 37, and Vivona and Conner McDonald each shot a 42 to help the Warriors past the Rams.

A day earlier, Vivona carded a 36 and Larsen a 37 in a 197-210 win over Willow Glen at Riverside. Christiansen was close behind with a 41, Carviero shot a 42, and McDonald finished at 43.

The two wins helped the Warriors improve to 5-1 for the year.

Vivona, Carviero and Phil Miyano are all senior returners from a Westmont squad that won a league championship a year ago. Juniors Larsen and Christiansen were other members of that squad along with sophomore Steve Dimon.

McDonald, Scott Hermanson and Casey Cripe are top freshman prospects for the Warriors this spring.

The Warriors figure to be title contenders again this year, along with Leland and Willow Glen, says head coach Gary Brinck. Westmont will take on Leland this week for two matches--March 30 at the San Jose Country Club and April 2 at the Almaden Country Club.

Falcons net wins

The Saratoga boys tennis team posted a pair of wins last week, beating Los Gatos 4-2 in a nonleague match and Lynbrook 6-1 in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL.

Ashvin Soin won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles to start the Falcons on the road to the league win over the Vikings. Elong Chiu won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 singles, and Jason Hou won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4.

James Chao and Amit Modi teamed for a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 1 doubles, Scott Swanberg and Justin Sung won 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 and Kenneth Rhow and Andy Tzou won 6-3, 7-6 at No. 3.

The victory left the Falcons 3-2 in division play and 9-3 for the year.

Earlier in the week, Soin won 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 singles, and Saratoga swept in doubles play to stick Los Gatos with a 4-2 defeat.

Chao and Modi won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 doubles, Swanberg and Sung won 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2, and Rhow and Tzou won 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3.

Westmont split a couple of 4-3 decisions in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, beating Yerba Buena before losing to Mt. Pleasant. Westmont had opened the week with a 7-0 loss to unbeaten Leland.

Boys Volleyball

The Saratoga volleyball team dropped a tough 15-10, 10-15, 15-9, 15-12 decision to Valley Christian to slip to 3-4 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL.

Prospect split a pair of matches in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL. The Panthers outlasted Willow Glen 3-15, 15-13, 12-15, 17-15, 15-12 for a thrilling five-game win, then lost 16-14, 15-8, 15-10 to San Jose Academy. The Panthers are 2-2 in division play and 2-4 for the year.

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