Baines leads Mats to key polo win

By Dick Sparrer

Jim Birdsong was a little off the mark last September when he predicted how things might turn out in the girls water polo race in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

Birdsong figured Homestead to be the team to beat in the division, with his own Monta Vista girls a good bet to finish second.

But that's not quite how things have turned out so far.

Oh, both the Mustangs and Matadors are title contenders in the division. It's just that it's Monta Vista currently leading the pack with Homestead in second place.

Hayley Baines pitched in three goals to lead Monta Vista to a thrilling 7-6 win over Homestead last week.

With the come-from-behind victory, the Mats improved to 8-0 in the division and the Mustangs slipped to 7-2 with the loss. That means that Monta Vista will enter the league tournament on Oct. 31 as the regular season champ, regardless of the outcome of its game against Los Gatos on Oct. 24, 6 p.m., at West Valley College.

Baines led the scoring assault for the Matadors with her three goals in the win over the Mustangs last week. Veronica Noone, Stephanie Kim, Ashley Spurzem and Zahra Mostofi also scored goals in the win.

Sharon Hyrne was the top scorer for Homestead in the game with three goals. Melissa Hyrne, Ali Desmond and Kari Loebner added goals for the Mustangs.

Homestead actually took control of the game early, leading 6-3 at the half after outscoring Monta Vista 3-1 in the first period and 3-2 in the second.

But the Mats scored the only goal of the third quarter, then blanked Homestead 3-0 in the fourth to pull out the tight win.

Homestead had posted its seventh win of the season a week earlier, beating Los Altos 12-4 behind a six-goal effort by S. Hyrne. Desmond added three goals in the game for the Mustangs.

In other El Camino action, Jen and Sheena Hovland pitched in three goals apiece to lead Cupertino to an 8-6 win over Mountain View. The win evened the Pioneers' record at 4-4.

The Cupertino boys lost 14-9 to unbeaten Palo Alto last week, despite a five-goal effort by Bret DeMuth. The Pioneers are 1-4 in the De Anza Division.

Hoopes leads Homestead

Adrienne Hoopes came through with a superb individual effort to lead the Homestead girls volleyball team to an exciting four-game win over Mountain View in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL last week.

Hoopes hammered home 21 kills to lead the Mustangs to a 12-15, 15-12, 15-11, 15-3 win over the Spartans.

The Mustangs trailed 1-0 in the match, but battled back for three straight wins behind Hoopes to pull out the victory. Homestead is now 7-2 in the division and 19-10 for the year.

Gelblum stars

Liora Gelblum made short work of Alicia Hull at No. 1 singles to lead the Monta Vista girls tennis team to a tight 4-3 win over Los Gatos in De Anza Division play last week.

Gelblum won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles to start the Matadors on the road to the victory.

King's falls

The boys soccer team at the King's Academy dropped a 6-0 decision to Sacred Heart Prep last week to slip to 2-5 in the Private Schools Athletic League.

Football action

In local football action this week, Homestead visits Fremont on Oct. 27, 7:30 p.m.

Public Safety

Election endorsement: Yes on Measure A

Photo: The Sunnyvale Community Players present 'The Secret Garden'

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High school sports

Photo: DeAnza College football