The Cupertino Courier

Matadors reaching for their goal

By Dick Sparrer

Sherry Hess and her Monta Vista volleyball players had a goal this fall. And more than halfway through the 1997 season, the Matadors are living up to that goal:

"To finish in the top three in league," said Hess. "We've really worked hard, and going into last Tuesday's match we were in a four-way tie for third."

That was last Tuesday. Now the Matadors are no longer in that third-place tie--they're in sole ownership of third.

Monta Vista beat Mountain View 15-10, 15-13, 10-15, 15-7 and backed that up with an impressive win over Los Altos 16-14, 15-7, 15-3 to improve to 4-3 in the division and to 17-11 for the year.

The win over Mountain View came on the final night of first-round play, and the Mats then opened the second round with the win over Los Altos. The Matadors and Eagles had gone into the match tied for third.

The two wins left the Mats trailing only unbeaten St. Francis and second-place Los Gatos in the league standings. The win over the Eagles was especially encouraging because Los Altos defeated Los Gatos earlier this year.

Sophomore Heather Janssen bombed nine kills and junior Anna Abatzoglou supported with six kills, and added five solo blocks for Monta Vista.

Sophomore Stephanie Knopp chipped in with six kills, and junior Laura Fairchild had a team-high 19 assists. Junior Allison Thee came through with three kills and five service aces.

Senior Anushka Nethisinghe and freshmen Sarah Hess and Tina Tsou are other top players for Monta Vista.

The Mats will host unbeaten St. Francis on Oct. 22, 7 p.m., in a league match before taking part in the Presentation Tournament this weekend.

In other local action, Homestead dropped a pair of De Anza Division decisions to Los Altos and St. Francis. The Mustangs lost 15-5, 15-1, 2-15, 16-14 to the Eagles, then fell 15-6, 15-9, 15-5 to the Lancers.

Homestead slipped to 2-5 in the division and to 10-10 for the year with the two losses.

Lynbrook remained unbeaten in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL with a tough five-game win over Gunn. The Vikings, 8-0 in the division and 18-2 overvall, beat the Titans 14-16, 15-13, 15-6, 12-15, 16-14.

Cupertino split in a pair of El Camino Division matches last week. The Pioneers beat Wilcox 13-15, 15-3, 15-4, 15-8, but lost to Milpitas 15-3, 18-16, 6-15, 15-6.

"I don't know why we're having trouble with our first game," said Cupertino coach Marty Redman. "If we get over that slow start, we can be a pretty good volleyball team."

Senior Melanie Rekieta pounded down 10 kills and Erica Boss added nine to lead the Pioneers to the win over the Chargers. Kathryn Auch was good on 10-of-11 serves for nine points and Sharon Han had six digs.

Boss came back with 17 digs and 11 kills in the bout with Milpitas later in the week.

"Once again, she was the best all-around player on the floor," said Redman of the junior star. Boss was good on 21-of-22 services for 15 points, including seven aces.

Margaret Le was 10-of-11 for seven points and she added seven digs, and Denise Stewart added six kills.

The Pioneers are now 4-4 in the division and 14-9 for the year.

overrun volleyball

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