But when it came time for the Blossom Valley Athletic League's Santa Teresa Division tournament, the two singles stars proved they make a pretty darn good pair, too.

Vo and Tran combined to win the division doubles title and earn a place in the BVAL tournament on Nov. 2-3 at Mt. Pleasant. The top finishers there qualify for the Central Coast Section tournament.

It was an impressive finish to what has been a rather long season for the Rams, who earned a trip to the Santa Teresa Division this fall after finishing second in the West Valley circuit last year.

Willow Glen could beat just Andrew Hill and Prospect in league play this season and finished the regular season with a 3-9 record.

Vo played No. 1 singles with Tran No. 2 most of the season. Sandy Tat held down the No. 3 singles spot with Jeanette Sulay playing No. 4.

Kat Khuu and P.K. Luu teamed at No. 1 doubles, Natalie Groft and Samantha Tsukiji played No. 2 and the teams of Camille Rivera and Kristen Davis and Kharlyn Encarnacion and Nancy Duong shared time at No. 3 for coach Don DuShane's squad.

Rams top Lincoln

Seniors Laura Vonstockhaussen and Kelly Green poured in five goals apiece to lead the Willow Glen girls water polo team to a solid 12-5 victory over Lincoln in Mt. Hamilton Division action last week.
The two comeback all-leaguers—Vonstockhaussen was a first-team selection as a utility player and Green was a second-team pick in a utility role—led the scoring attack that also included goals by Courtney Buchannan and Stacey Furtado. Buchannan is a senior who won all-league second team honors as a two-meter player last year.

The Rams opened up a 2-0 lead in the first quarter, but outscored Lincoln just 3-2 in the second to take a 5-2 advantage by intermission. Willow Glen topped the Lions 5-2 in the third, though, to take control of the game, then edged Lincoln 2-1 in the fourth to clinch the win.

The Rams will close out the regular season with two games this week, Oct. 25 at Independence and Oct. 27, 3 p.m., at home against unbeaten Leland. The Mt. Hamilton Division tournament will be held Nov. 4-5 at Independence.

Polo team tops pack

The Santa Teresa Division boys tournament will be played Nov. 1-2 at Independence, and Willow Glen hopes to enter tourney play with a perfect regular season record.

The Rams improved to 7-0 in division play, 8-3 overall, with wins over Independence and Evergreen Valley, and they have just one game left in the regular season before the tournament gets under way. The Rams will host Piedmont Hills in a 6 p.m. game on Oct. 27, hoping to put the finishing touches on an 8-0 record they can take to the tourney.

Piedmont, though, may have other ideas. The Pirates are 9-10 overall this season, but they sit in second place in the Santa Teresa Division with a 5-1 record. The Bucs had to meet Independence on Tuesday before wrapping things up Thursday night at Willow Glen.

The Rams had a tough time with those 76ers last week but managed to pull out a thrilling 13-11 come-from-behind victory. They had opened the week with a tight 8-6 win over Evergreen.

Scott London pitched in seven goals and Reese Rotsaert and Geoffrey DuBridge added three apiece to lead the Rams to the important victory over the Sixers.

Willow Glen opened up a slim 2-1 lead in the first quarter and stretched that to 7-4 by the half. But Independence blanked the Rams 4-0 in the third period to take an 8-7 lead into the final stanza. Willow Glen stepped up, though, and topped the 76ers 6-3 in the final period to claim the victory.

Girls tied for first

Last season's Junior of the Year in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL is playing like the Senior of the Year this season, and last week Willow Glen's Angela Pizella was on top of her game again—and on top of the volleyball net.

Pizella hammered 27 kills to the floor in two matches to lead the Rams to a pair of Santa Teresa victories over Evergreen Valley and Santa Teresa.

Pizella drilled 18 kills in Willow Glen's come-from-behind 16-25, 25-19, 25-22, 26-24 over Evergreen. The teams had entered the match with first place on the line, and the Rams' victory left the clubs in a first-place tie with their matching 6-2 records.

Earlier in the week the middle hitter had ripped nine kills to the hardwood in a 25-11, 25-20, 25-19 win over Santa Teresa. The Saints are in third place at 5-3.

The Rams are now 6-2 in division play and 13-11 for the season with just three matches remaining. Willow Glen will host Andrew Hill on Oct. 27 at 5 p.m., visit Oak Grove on Nov. 1 at 6:30 p.m. and entertain Lincoln on Nov. 3 at 5 p.m.

Rams among state's best

There's a reason that Willow Glen ranks among the best boys cross country teams in the state—make that five reasons ... Mohamed Abdalla, Marcos Corona, Justin McArthur, Robert Ramos and Daniel Diaz.

The Rams, who are running away with the dual meet championship in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL this fall, are ranked No. 5 in the state among Division III schools, largely because of the consistent efforts of Abdalla, Corona and the rest of the Ram pack.

In league action, Willow Glen had an easy time with Piedmont Hills last week, running to a 15-42 victory on the 2.74-mile course at Montgomery Hill.

Abdalla was the division's top finisher on the day, running 14:41. McArthur was fourth overall in 15:41 with Ramos sixth in 15:46 and Diaz 15th in 16:20.

The Rams are now 7-0 in the division.

The Willow Glen girls ran past Piedmont 22-33 the same day to improve to 6-1 in the division.

Kari Server was second in the division race in 18:38 with Maria Sosa eighth in 19:33, Nancy Velazquez 14th in 20:12 and Hayley Tharp 15th in 20:24.

Garces sparks victory

Marcos Garces and his Willow Glen teammates were happy to get a week away from the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL—and the Rams took advantage of the opportunity with a lopsided 27-0 non-league win over James Lick.

The Rams have been struggling in league play with losses in each of their first three games. In fact, they had just one win on the season until Friday night.

Willow Glen scored in each of the four quarters to claim its second victory of the season. The Rams will try to make it two straight when they return to league play on Oct. 28, 7:30 p.m., at Gunderson. The Grizzlies, like the Rams are struggling this season with an 0-4 division record and 2-5 mark overall.

But the Rams weren't struggling last Friday. Quite the contrary, they were rolling to a one-sided win over the Comets.

Garces ran for more 150 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Rams to the win over Lick. He scored on a six-yard run in the first quarter to give the Rams the early lead.

Willow Glen went up 14-0 by the half thanks to a 12-yard touchdown pass from Juan Baron to Angel Posada and a two-point run by Baron.

Garces upped the Willow Glen to 21-0 in the third quarter with a 15-yard touchdown run, McCabe Tonna kicking the extra point.

The Rams closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter, and it was Garces striking again. The junior speedster took off on a 57-yard touchdown run and the Rams had all but wrapped up the victory over the winless Comets.

Coaches needed

Willow Glen High School is looking for varsity and junior varsity wrestling coaches for the 2005-06 winter season. For more information, call athletic director Peggy Booth at 408.535.6330 or fax a resume to 408.535.2353.