Westmont could have moved into a first-place tie with the Rams in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League with a win. But a Willow Glen victory would have given the Rams sole ownership of the league lead.

And it was the Rams pulling out a win in three straight games to remain alone in first place in the division.

Senior outside hitter Jenny Estruth pounded down a team-high 12 kills to lead the Rams to a 15-13, 15-12, 15-11 win over the Warriors. The win helped Willow Glen improve to 10-1 in the division and to 22-8 for the year.

Estruth is one of four returning starters on the Willow Glen squad this fall. Senior outside hitter Julia Garrotto, senior setter Carly Silva and junior middle hitter Kelsey Roseland are other veterans in the Willow Glen lineup.

Newcomers Aesfash Riverak, Serina Anaya, Arrianne Kolar and Karina Estrada are other key players for Willow Glen this season.

The Rams will close out the regular season this week when they visit Silver Creek on Nov. 6, 6:30 p.m., and host Santa Teresa on Nov. 8, 5 p.m.

The following week, Willow Glen will open play in the Central Coast Section playoffs.


Girls tennis

The Willow Glen girls tennis team wrapped up the regular season with a couple of team wins and a solid showing at the Santa Teresa Division individual tournament at Pioneer.

Stephanie Mansfield and Caitlin Hannon teamed to win the league doubles championship at the league tourney. The Willow Glen pair beat a Santa Teresa twosome in the semifinals 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, then whipped an Oak Grove duo 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2 in the championship match.

Mansfield and Hannon, seeded No. 3 in the tourney, had opened play with wins over Yerba Buena and another Oak Grove team.

In regular season play recently, the Rams knocked off Del Mar 6-1 and handled Pioneer 5-2.

Hannon posted a 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles to start the Rams on the road to the win over the Dons. Nhu-Chi Tran won 7-5, 6-2 at No. 3 singles, and Mansfield won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 4.

Lisa Pierson and Ali Hodgin teamed for a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles to start the Rams on the road to a doubles sweep against Del Mar. Elizabeth Eap and Kristina Ravo won 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 at No. 2 doubles, and Guliletta Pezzanitti and Yesenia Barraza won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3.

Two days later, Hannon (6-3, 7-5), Tran (6-3, 6-3) and Mansfield (6-3, 6-3) were singles winners in Willow Glen's 5-2 victory over Pioneer.

Eap and Ravo combined for a 6-3, 7-6 win at No. 2 doubles and Pezzanitti and Barraza won 6-1, 3-1 (retired) at No. 3 doubles.


Water polo

Melinda Wallace, Alisson Rice and Sarah Stockhausen each scored goals, but the Willow Glen girls water polo team dropped an 8-3 decision to Mt. Pleasant last week.

The Rams fell behind 2-0 after a period but outscored Mt. Pleasant 2-1 in the second to trail just 3-2 at intermission. The Cardinals topped the Rams 4-1 in the third and 1-0 in the fourth, though, to clinch the win.

Willow Glen slipped to 0-7 in division play with the loss.

The Willow Glen boys lost 16-8 to Lincoln the same day.


Cross country

Ngoan Phan finished first overall, but it wasn't enough to lead the Willow Glen boys cross country team to a win over James Lick in Mt. Hamilton Division competition last week.

Phan covered the 2.74-mile course at Montgomery Hill Park in 15:40 to finish first in the Mt. Hamilton field, but the Rams dropped a tight 23-33 decision to the Comets.

The loss left Willow Glen 4-2 in the league dual meet season. Silver Creek won the dual title with a 6-0 record, and Lick was second at 5-1.

The Willow Glen girls, meanwhile, romped to a 16-43 win over Lick but still finished second in the circuit. The Rams were 5-1 in the dual season, with Silver Creek first at 6-0.

Sophomore Cristina Diaz ran 18:34 at Montgomery Hill to finish second overall and first against the Comets. Jenny Cook was second for the Rams in 20:28, good for sixth overall.


Field hockey

The halves didn't decide the outcome. Neither did an extra period. So the Willow Glen and Leigh girls field hockey teams played to a 1-1 tie last week in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.

Leigh scored a first-half goal, and the Rams answered with a goal in the second half to tie it. Junior forward Marina Mendez scored off of assists from senior forwards Stacy Bruni and Stephanie Rovai to knot the score 1-1.

That's how it remained through regulation, sending the teams into overtime. But after a scoreless third period, the clubs were still locked in a 1-1, and that's the way things ended up.

The tie left the Rams 5-4-2 in division play, while Leigh finished up at 8-2-2.