The Sunnyvale Sun

Sports

Mustangs shoot for league, CCS titles

By Mike Barnhart

Although it has been 10 years since the Central Coast Section added boys volleyball to its family, only three schools--Bellarmine, Los Gatos and Mt. Madonna--have won a section championship in the sport.

Homestead, a contender in all 10 of the CCS's post-season tournaments but a finalist only once, expects to reach the field of 16 again this season and hopes to reach the championship game for the second time. The Mustangs' only previous appearance in a CCS title match was in 2000, but they lost to Bellarmine.

With 10 players back from last season's team that went unbeaten in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and finished 26-5 overall, head coach Matt Hoffman thinks the 2007 squad could earn its third straight league title and make the CCS tourney field for the 11th straight season.

"This should be another good year for us," predicted Hoffman last week, after the Mustangs ran their early-season record to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in league with three-game sweeps over Lynbrook and Fremont.

The Mustangs expected their first tough league match when they traveled to Los Gatos on March 20.

The Wildcats, whose three CCS titles rank second only to Bellarmine's six, won the 2006 championship after finishing second to Homestead in league play.

Homestead had earned the top seed in the CCS tourney by going 14-0 in the SCVAL and 25-4 overall, but it suffered a five-game loss to Sacred Heart Cathedral in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Los Gatos, the No. 3 seed, won four matches in a row, including the finale over Sacred Heart.

Hoffman's Mustangs are loaded with talent, including a trio of seniors who earned all-SCVAL honors in 2006.

Ryan Bridge, a 6-foot-5 setter, is the "quarterback" of the team and directs play on the court for the Mustangs. Bridge was named Most Valuable Player for the team and the SCVAL last season.

Many of Bridge's passes will go to either 6-foot-8 middle blocker Ryan Dedrick or 6-foot outside hitter Weston Buckner. Dedrick was a first team all-league selection as a junior, while Buckner was a second team pick.

Other returning seniors are libero Bryan Nguyen, outside hitters Dale Park and Andrew Blazensky, opposite hitter Paul Wadensweiler and defensive specialist Nhan Nguyen.

Joining Dedrick at middle blocker will be 6-foot-4 sophomore Luke Rosener, who was a big contributor as a freshman. Outside hitter Andrew Leamon is another returning sophomore.

Homestead has five new varsity players this season. Opposite hitter Jonathan Lee, outside hitter Eric Kim and defensive specialist Bryan Baird are juniors. Setter Sean Bugee and 6-foot-7 middle blocker Doug Rathbun are sophomores.

El Camino swimming

Wilcox won the diving contest, but Fremont placed first in all of the swimming events and captured an El Camino Division meet 107-59 in the Firebirds' pool last Friday. Julia Chen and Ellen Umeda led the way, claiming four victories apiece, two individual and two relays.

Fremont's boys, just four swimmers and diver Brian Peters, turned in a strong showing, but Wilcox won 93-50.

Chen won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:20.8 and the 100 backstroke in 1:06.73, both qualifying times for the Central Coast Section meet. She also swam legs on the victorious medley and 400 relays. Umeda touched first in the 200-yard freestyle (2:06.09) and the 100 free (58.92), and she anchored both freestyle relays.

Other event winners for Fremont were Aimee Lindsey (28.07) in the 50 free, Claire Umeda (1:09.51) in the 100 fly, Briana Huang (5:58.19) in the 500 free and Stephanie Wei (1:20.93) in the 100 breaststroke.

Huang teamed with Chen, C. Umeda and Karen. Huang to win the medley relay in 2:06.19. The quartet of Wei, Lindsey, K. Huang and E. Umeda swam 1:49.98 in the 200 free relay. Chen led off the 400 relay, followed by B. Huang, Wei and E. Umeda in 3:57.52, a CCS-meet qualifying time.

Evan Kashi claimed first place in the boys' backstroke and butterfly events and helped the Firebirds qualify for the CCS meet in the medley relay. Kashi, Chris Corley, Vladimir Kozyrev and Evan Mahoney combined to clock finished behind Wilcox, but their time of 1:40 was nearly 10 seconds better than the qualifying standard.

Fremont swimmers placed first in the longer freestyle events, Mahoney going 2:10.88 in the 200 and Corley taking the 500 in 6:11.33. Peters won the diving competition with 270.8 points.

After Santa Clara visits for a dual meet on March 23, 3:30 p.m., the Firebirds will not have another home meet until Homestead invades on April 6.

Homestead's swimming teams both are 2-0 in El Camino Division dual meets after rolling over Los Gatos and Milpitas. More importantly, several individuals and all of the relay teams already have qualified for the CCS championships in May.

Heading into a home meet March 22 against Cupertino, sophomore Paul Kim had beaten the standards for the 50, 100 and 200 free events, the IM, butterfly and backstroke. Junior Geovid Kali (50) and freshman Kivanc Karagulle (500 free) also had made the cut, while seniors Derrick Lee and Alex Romanko, juniors Jeffrey Meadows and Kyle Hu and sophomore Jonathan Lee all have come close.

Senior Michelle Camburn and freshmen Anne Peanasky and Jesse Bergman have qualified in multiple events for the Homestead girls. Senior Emily Pool and sophomore Lisa Yao also have made the cut. Juniors Stephanie Kung, Jessica Lawrence and Kristy Peanasky all are relay team members that are working to qualify in their individual events.

Baseball

The pitching and hitting of junior Evan Marshall helped Homestead overcome six errors and defeat Fremont 4-3 on March 13.

Marshall, who had two of Homestead's eight hits and an RBI, pitched a 1-hitter. Rob Ramer's single was the only hit for the Firebirds.

After a 7-4 win against Lynbrook and a non-league loss to Los Altos, the Mustangs were 3-0 in El Camino play and 6-3 overall.

Fremont, after a tough 5-3 defeat at Saratoga, was 1-2 in the division and 3-8 overall.

The King's Academy improved its overall record to 5-2-1 with wins over St. Thomas More and Pinewood.

Softball

Lauren Gniadek's home run and four runs-batted-in helped Homestead beat Mountain View 8-4 in its De Anza Division opener. Junior Becca Gularte was the winning pitcher for the Mustangs, who improved to 3-4 overall.

Fremont needed an extra inning to win at Los Altos 5-4 in its El Camino opener. Junior pitcher Candi Latini worked all eight innings for the Firebirds.

Junior Kellie Vogt of The King's Academy pitched a 3-hit shutout against Menlo School. The 11-0 win raised the Knights' overall record to 4-2.

Golden Eagle

The 23rd annual Golden Eagle Summer Sports Camp will hold weekly sessions for children ages 5-13 June 18 through July 27 at Los Altos High School and June 18 through July 20 at Homestead High School.

Camp hours are 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. with extended hours available. The cost is $200 (there is an additional cost for the extended hours).

For more information, visit www.goldeneaglecamp.org or call 650.298.9740.