Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Homestead's Rachel Pua won a berth in the CCS tennis tournament by winning the singles title in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.
Pua in CCS singles tourney
King's advances to volleyball semi's
By Dick Sparrer
Monta Vista's Liora Gelblum and Homestead's Rachel Pua will be on the court in singles action and Lynbrook's Liz Nelson and Angie Lin will be serving it up in doubles play when the Central Coast Section individual tennis tournament gets under way on Nov. 20 at the Courtside Tennis Club in Los Gatos.
Singles and doubles play begins at noon on Monday with the quarter-final round to be played later the same day. Winners return to the courts on Nov. 21 for the semifinals at noon, with the first- and third-place matches to follow the same day at Courtside.
Lena Sherbakov of Los Altos is seeded No. 1 in singles play with Amy Walgembach of Santa Catalina second and Gelblum third.
In the CCS team tournament, Monta Vista and Saratoga have played their way into the semifinals.
The Matadors beat Homestead 5-2 and edged St. Francis 4-3 to advance to the semi's against Santa Catalina played Monday at Courtside. Saratoga pulled out tight 4-3 wins over both Pinewood and Leland to advance to the semifinals against Menlo.
The semi-final winners will play in the CCS championship match on Nov. 15, 2:30 p.m. at Courtside.
Gelblum and Liz Yu won twice at No. 1 singles to drive the Matadors to back-to-back wins to open the CCS tennis tourney.
The Mats, 16-7 for the year, pulled out a 5-2 win over rival Homestead to open the tournament.
Gelblum topped Pua 6-2, 7-5 at No. 1 singles to start the Mats on the road to the victory.
Yu beat Brittany Reynolds 6-3, 6-0 at No. 2 singles and Mia Chen nailed a 7-5, 6-0 win over Erin Hsu at No. 3
Katherine Fustar and Diana Cheng teamed for a tight 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles and Erin Tsing and Julia Kanakarajavelu won 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 at No. 3.
Homestead had opened the tournament with a 4-3 win over Harbor. The loss to the Matadors ended Homestead's season at 14-5.
The Matadors went on to claim a tight 4-3 win over the Lancers a match later. Gelblum won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles and Yu won by the same score at No. 2.
Pua earned her place at the CCS singles tournament with a first-place finish in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Pua pulled out a thrilling 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 win over Marlo Koehler of Fremont in the El Camino title match.
Pua opened the tournament with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) win over the talented Elisabeth Enghofer of Fremont, then beat a Lynbrook foe match later 6-1, 6-2.
Koehler played her way into the finals with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Dernie Wang of Lynbrook and a 6-0, 6-1 win over a Santa Clara foe.
In doubles play, Homestead's Reynolds and Hsu teamed for a third-place finish. The two Mustangs beat Crystal Pangilinan of Linda Ngyuen of Fremont 6-1, 6-1 in the first round, a Wilcox duo 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the semi's and a team from Santa Clara 6-1, 6-3 in the third-place match.
Girls volleyball
The King's Academy girls volleyball team won a thriller over Harker Academy to remain in the hunt for the CCS Division V championship.
King's went five games to turn back Harker 9-15, 15-5, 10-15, 15-12, 18-16 in a exciting match.
The Knights, 18-11 for the year, now advance to the CCS semifinals against Woodside Priory (17-3) on Nov. 16, 8 p.m., at Mitty High School. The winner will meet the winner of the Valley Christian of Dublin (20-4)-Redwood Christian (11-10) winner in the CCS championship match on Nov. 18, 2 p.m., at West Valley Community College in Saratoga.
Seniors April Bates, Julie Belton, Suzanne DeBerry, Gena Gavero, Alisha Friske, Angela Guidi and Michelle Rhie will lead the Knights into the CCS semi's. Junior Jesse Martin and sophomores Liz Barnum, Annie Favero, Dani Luna and Karen Pfister are other members of the King's varsity.
Cross country
Eric Fontes end up in the top 25 to lead the Fremont cross country to an eighth-place finish in the team standings at the CCS Division I finals held last Saturday at Crystal Springs in Belmont.
Fontes crossed the finish line of the 2.95-mile course in 16:50 to nail 23rd-place and lead all Fremont runners.
Brett Gotcher of Aptos was first in the division in 15:02 with Neil Davis of Bellarmine a close second in 15:07. The Bells won the team title with Aptos second.
Freshman Randall Polgar was 36th in 17:38 for the Firebirds with Manuel Hernandez 42nd in 17:55, Vince Klumper 49th in 18:02, Casey McCleary 51st in 18:05, Austin Sardella 52nd in 18:08 and John Seo 61st in 18:58. Sardella is just a freshman and McCleary is a sophomore.
The boys from the King's Academy in Sunnyvale finished eighth as a team in the CCS Division V race.
Senior Ethan Clansky led the Knights by finishing 37th in 20:04. Freshman Larry Witkovski was 39th in 20:24 with David Gullans 43rd in 21:00, Tyson Kornely 48th in 21:24 and Colin Blalock 57th in 26:19.
In girls action, Natasha Chatilo of King's was 31st overall in 26:08. Brittney McMillin was 36th in 28:24 with April Castillo 38th in 29:37.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
