The Willow Glen Resident Young Rams win CCS polo title By Dick Sparrer Scott Kaubish had a good feeling about this year's Willow Glen girls water polo team. The Willow Glen coach knew that his Rams were young, and he knew that they were competing in a tough division. But he also knew this was a team that was just going to get better and better as the season progressed. Boy, was he ever right! The Rams started slow with a couple of early losses to Notre Dame-Belmont and Mt. Pleasant, but they finished strong--strong enough, in fact, to win the championship in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and win a berth in the Central Coast Section playoffs. The Rams wrapped up the regular season with an impressive 4-3 win over Mitty in the league championship game. Willow Glen fought back from a 2-0 deficit at the half with three goals in the third period, then went on to post the tight 4-3 victory. Junior Kristan Livak and her sister, freshman Courtney Livak, tossed in two goals apiece for the Rams in the championship game. The Rams finished off the league season with an 8-0 record thanks to the win over Mitty, and they took off for the CCS playoffs. Willow Glen lost 20-4 to Sacred Heart Prep in the first round of the section tourney. The Livak sisters, as they did in the league title game, scored two goals apiece for the Rams. The Rams wrapped up the year with an impressive 17-7 record, despite a line-up that included only a pair of seniors, Nazanine Mousavi and Elizabeth Travis. The rest of the Rams will be back to defend their title a year from now. Topping the list of returners will be standouts Whitney Gregg and Tracy Harding, a pair of juniors who join Mousavi in the defensive waters, and goalie Allison Woodside, another junior. Willow Glen finished the Santa Teresa Division season with a 9-8 win over Mitty before winning twice in the league play-offs to clinch the championship. Gregg poured in three goals for the Rams in the first win over the Monarchs. K. Livak, Mousavi and C. Livak added two goals each in the important victory. Juniors Jessica Parisi, Becca Sparling, Quinlyn Cowsert and Tracy Harding, sophomores Kara Buchanan and Meredith Carroll and freshman Alicia Barreto were other members of the Willow Glen championship team. Panthers 2nd The Presentation girls ended up second to Leland in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL. Jamie Hinderliter tossed in three goals, but the Panthers lost 12-4 to the Chargers in the division championship game. Presentation lost 10-8 to Leland to finish the regular season with a 4-2 record. Jennifer Allen and Stacey Crabtree fired in three goals apiece and Hinderliter added one in the loss to the Chargers. The Panthers opened the division play-offs with a 12-8 victory over Santa Teresa. Hinderliter buried six goals and Cathy Villarreal and Allen canned two apiece in the Presentation victory. But the Panthers lost the 12-4 decision to Leland a game later. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, November 25, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.