Willow Glen Resident
Sports
Leland tops Willow Glen in Tiki Match
Eight Rams advance to CCS swim finals
By Dick Sparrer
They've won championships. They've won medals. They've won trophies.
There's just one thing that's eluded the Leland boys volleyball team through the years--the Tiki Award.
The award, that was handcrafted by Willow Glen volleyball coach Jef Wind, is presently annually to the winner of
the Tiki Match between Leland and Willow Glen.
The first two years it was Willow Glen taking home the prestigious, albeit odd-looking award. But the trophy no longer belongs to the Rams. The Chargers made sure of that last Thursday night.
Playing before a full house at a Willow Glen gym all decked out in a South Pacific décor, fans wearing floral shirts and Hawaiian leis cheered as the team battled through three games before Leland clinched a 25-22, 25-15, 25-18 victory.
"What can I say?" said Hilbert after the win. "Both the Leland and Willow Glen crowds were amazing."
"The guys really played as a team with a purpose," added the coach, whose Chargers were sick of going home without the Tiki plaque. "The passing was right on and the defense was perfect."
The coach called Scott Lucas "simply unstoppable" as he hammered home a match-high 20 kills. Kevin Kashanian supported with eight kills. The coach also praised the efforts of Boris Sanchez, Alex Moon, Seth Anderson, Kenny Tran, Sean Park, Charles Lim and added that Andrew Atmeh "was a wall at the net."
"It really was great to see our guys hoist the Tiki," added Hilbert. "They really deserved it."
Willow Glen's Tobin Chase and Mike Reiton gave Rams fans plenty to cheer about with seven kills apiece in the match.
The Rams had opened the week by making quick work of Pioneer 25-12, 25-22, 25-14. Chase had an incredible match with 30 kills in the victory.
Chase, a junior middle blocker, and Reiton, a senior outside hitter, will now lead the Rams into the Central Coast Section tournament.
Willow Glen, 11-5 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and 22-13 overall, will open CCS play on the road against Los Gatos on May 11, 7 p.m. Los Gatos, 29-5, is the No. 3 seed in the tournament and the Rams are seeded No. 14.
The winner will take on the winner of the No. 6 Bellarmine (31-6)-No. 11 Serra (20-15) first-round match on May 13 at Santa Clara High School.
Rams ready for CCS
Willow Glen will send eight swimmers to the CCS swimming finals this weekend at Stanford University.
Senior Scott London has qualified for CCS in the 50-yard freestyle, the 100 free and the 100 butterfly, and he teamed with freshmen Nathan Woo and Chris McCarthy and junior Reese Rotsaert to qualify in the 200 free relay.
The boys will join a girls' quartet of seniors Courtney Buchanan and Kelly Greene and sophomores Jackie Anderson and Kate Waggoner, who qualified in the 200 medley relay.
The CCS swimming preliminaries begin at 11 a.m. on May 12 with the finals set for May 13 at 1 p.m. at Stanford. Diving prelims are at 9:30 p.m. Saturday with the finals at 1 p.m. the same day.
Rams drop a pair
Senior hurler Michele McCollum tossed a 6-hitter and helped her own cause with three hits to lead the Willow Glen girls softball team to a 6-3 win over Sobrato last week.
But the win came in non-league play. And when it came time for Santa Teresa Division action, the Rams lost a pair, falling 4-3 to Piedmont Hills and 12-1 to Evergreen Valley.
A highlight in the two losses, though, was the power display of senior Angie Patton, who blasted a couple of home runs. Patton homered to account for the only Willow Glen run in the loss to the Cougars, and she ripped another homer against the Pirates. Allison Herman had three hits for the Rams against the Bucs.
