The Cupertino Courier
News
Mustangs win Blue Division title at Spikefest
By Mike Barnhart
Homestead's girls volleyball team gave new coach Matt Hoffman a welcome gift last Saturday--a first-place finish in the Blue Division of the Milpitas Spikefest.
The Mustangs, with 10 players returning from last year's Central Coast Section Division I runner-up team, defeated Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division rival Palo Alto in the Blue finale 29-27, 24-26, 15-12.
Hoffman, also the coach of Homestead's successful boys volleyball program, previously coached girls teams at Fremont and Gunn.
Juniors Katherine Fischer and Melissa Cheng lead the Mustangs' cast of returning players. Fischer, an outside hitter, was the De Anza Division's Most Valuable Player last year and Cheng was an all-De Anza first team setter.
Homestead's five returning seniors are middle blockers Justine Wales and Allie Fickett, outside hitters Lauren Hoopes and Diana Moberg and defensive specialist Becca Gularte. Setter Nicole Radish and defensive specialist Elizabeth Case, both juniors, and sophomore middle blocker Tori Carroll also return from the squad that reached the second round of the Northern California tournament last fall.
Newcomers, in addition to coach Hoffman, are junior middle blocker Colleen Fitzgerald and sophomore defensive specialist Katie Phan.
Homestead resumes tournament action Sept. 6-8 at the High Sierra Invitational in Reno.
Kao sparks Cupertino
Sparked by senior Katie Kao's 12 kills, Cupertino High rallied to win a girls volleyball match at Pinewood Academy, Aug. 31 in Los Altos Hills.
Down two games to one in the best-of-five match, the Pioneers claimed game four 25-19, forcing a fifth and final game. Cupertino then completed the comeback with a 16-14 triumph in the decisive fifth game.
The victory came one day after the Pioneers dropped their season opener at St. Francis 3-0. Junior Ana Pischl scored five kills for Cupertino.
Kao, an all-El Camino Division first team selection last fall, and Pischl, an honorable mention pick, figure to be key players this season for the Pioneers, who are coached by Bob and Laura Huff. Another top returnee is junior setter Jennifer Riland, another all-league, first-team choice in 2006.
Other Cupertino varsity players are Joelle Buscher, Julianne Chau, Nadia Chow, Brianna Conroy, Vanessa Jensen, Lauren Johnson, Kim Lankford, Cynthia Leu and Hanna Park.
After traveling to Mills in Milbrae, Cupertino will complete its non-league schedule with three home matches in a row. The first home contest will be against Del Mar, Sept. 6 at 5 p.m. Andrew Hill and Menlo Atherton will visit the Cupertino gym next week, leading up to the El Camino opener, Sept. 18 against visiting Wilcox.
Defending champion Monta Vista joins Fremont, Lynbrook, Milpitas and Santa Clara as other teams in the El Camino Division.
The Matadors lost six key players to graduation, including Most Valuable Player Alex Gatley and three other first team all-leaguers. Among the top returners are senior middle blocker Jessie Barry and sophomore defensive specialist Paulina Dao, who earned all-league honorable mention last season.
Barry paced the Matadors with nine kills in the team's first match of the season, a 3-1 loss to visiting Mountain View last week. The Matadors join Homestead at the Reno tournament this week, before concluding their pre-season slate with a home date against Oak Grove on Sept. 13.
