Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Westmont's Jennifer Brownridge digs the volleyball in front of the net in recent action. The Warriors opened league play with a victory over Leigh last week.
Falcons third at Del Mar
Warriors win in tennis, volleyball
By Dick Sparrer
Dawit Gezahngn covered his home course in 15:49 to finish fourth overall in the Blossom Valley-Del Mar Invitational cross country meeting last week.
Hollister's Ben Morales was first in 14:39 on the three-mile course, leading the Haybalers to the team title in the boys division.
Gezahngn finished fourth, with teammate Dennis Bekele 10th in 16:19, to help the Dons clinch a team third behind Hollister and Enterprise of Redding.
Enterprise won the girls title, but Beverly Havner of Del Mar managed a top-10 finish by nailing sixth in 20:10.
Saratoga finished third in the team standings. Enterprise ran up a low 20 points to win the title, with Piedmont second at 56 and Saratoga at 58.
Saratoga's Carol Lui and Dernie Wang each finished in the top 15 overall in the girls race. Lui was 13th in 21:42 with Wang 14th in 21:52.
Girls Tennis
The Westmont girls tennis team pulled out a pair of wins last week, beating Lincoln 5-2 and blanking Del Mar 7-0. The two wins helped the Warriors improve to 6-0 in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
Sophomore Megan Clapp won 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 singles to start the Warriors on the road to the win over the Lions. Sophs Anna Vudalic and Ramy Long also won in singles play.
The doubles teams of Rachael Osofsky and Kathern Bamford and Megan Gurney and Virvina Nguyen also won against Lincoln.
Clapp, Vudalic, Long and Natali Phipps were singles winner against Del Mar, and Westmont also swept in doubles play.
The Warriors will be on the road for two matches this week. Westmont visits San Jose on Sept. 28 and Prospect on Sept. 30.
The Saratoga girls, meanwhile, rolled to a 7-0 win over Los Altos, but the Falcons dropped a 4-3 nod to Los Gatos later in the week.
Amanda Wise won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles and Angela Yeh won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 to start the Falcons on the way to the sweep against Los Altos.
Kate Pisani and Eileen Allen teamed for a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 1 to lead a Saratoga sweep in doubles play.
Pisani and Allen came back with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles against Los Gatos, but the Falcons lost to the Wildcats 4-3 to slip to 5-2 for the year and to 1-2 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Girls Volleyball
Marisa Thornston blasted 16 kills to lead Prospect to a hard-earned 5-15, 15-4, 15-3, 13-15, 15-12 win over Oak Grove last week.
The win was the second straight for the Panthers in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL. Prospect had opened the season earlier in the week with a 15-7, 15-12, 15-5 win over Mt. Pleasant. The Panthers are now 5-1 for the year and 2-0 in the division.
Westmont is off to a similar start in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL. The Warriors beat Leigh 15-11, 15-9, 15-5 to open the league season with a win.
Sheryl Mahaffey had led Westmont to a 17-15, 15-5, 15-11 win over Mt. Pleasant earlier in the week in a nonleague match.
In other local action, the Lynbrook girls fought their way to a fifth-place finish in the tough UC-Davis Invitational, winning four straight matches before falling to Nevada Union 15-9, 15-6.
The Vikings beat Will C. Wood 15-1, 15-2, Cordova 15-1, 15-0 and Ponderosa 15-6, 10-15, 16-14 to advance to the gold division. The Vikes topped Vintage 15-1, 12-15, 15-10 before losing to Nevada Union.
Outside hitters Megan Schoettmer and Tessa Spahr and setter Barbara Yocke were key players for the Vikings in the 32-team tournament.
But Lynbrook dropped two matches last week in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, falling to Monta Vista and Palo Alto.
Spahr drilled 17 kills, but the Vikings lost 15-9, 14-16, 15-3, 15-12 to the Matadors.
Lynbrook slipped to 16-4 for the season and to 0-2 in the division with a 15-3, 15-13, 15-7 loss to Palo Alto a couple of days later.
In the El Camino Division of the SCVAL, Saratoga won twice last week behind the efforts of Stacey Shen and Laura Shih. The Falcons beat Fremont 15-3, 15-7, 15-9 and handled Homestead 15-7, 10-15, 16-14, 15-6.
Girls Water Polo
Sarah Oberhauser poured in six goals and Courtney Hopkins tossed in five to lead the Saratoga girls water polo team to a 18-5 win over Homestead in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Kimberly Ashburn supported the efforts of her teammates with three goals, and Courtney Crase and Denise Gilbert drilled two goals apiece.
The Falcons went on to split in tournament play last weekend, winning a 5-4 overtime thriller over Notre Dame-Belmont, but losing a 5-4 overtime heartbreaker to Mitty.
Oberhauser buried three goals and Ashburn had two in the win over Belmont.
Crase led the Falcons with two goals and Gilbert and Ashburn added once apiece in the loss to Mitty.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
