Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Los Gatos senior Zoe Segnitz battles for the ball in field hockey action against Willow Glen. The Cats beat the Rams before losing to Prospect, but came back last week to beat Saratoga and tie Lynbrook.

Cats start another streak

By Dick Sparrer

It had been a long time since the Los Gatos field hockey team lost a home match--seven years to be exact. But when the Wildcats dropped a tough 4-2 decision to Prospect a couple of weeks back, the streak came to an end.

The Cats, though, seemed to take the loss in stride. Because they came back after the streak ended to begin another one.

Los Gatos returned home last week to pound Saratoga 5-1 on Los Gatos turf.

Rachel Lichte and Anita Reyes knocked in two goals apiece, and Emily Scott added one to lift the Cats to the easy win over the Falcons.

Reyes had a couple of assists to go with her goals, and Nikki Anderson and Heather Kottmeier also had two goals apiece in the win.

The Wildcats hit the road two days later and battled Lynbrook to a 1-1 draw on the Vikings' home field. Lichte scored the lone Gatos goal in the game.

The Cats, 3-1-1 in the division and 6-1-1 for the year, had posted a big 2-1 win over Willow Glen the week before before losing the 4-2 nod to Prospect.

Reyes had a goal and an assist, and Scott scored a goal in the win over the Rams. Cortney Kelly added an assist for Los Gatos.

Reyes scored two goals off assists from Kottmeier and Anderson, but it wasn't enough against the Panthers.

Girls Tennis

Alicia Hull won twice at No. 2 singles, but the Los Gatos girls tennis team could manage just a split in De Anza Division play last week.

The Wildcats whipped Palo Alto 6-1 but lost 4-3 to Gunn to slide to 4-5 in division play and to 5-6 for the year.

Cristy Green, Hull, Gianna Cardinale and Katrina Lebedeva each won in singles play to lead Gatos to the win over Paly. Anne Pearl and Arielle Perez teamed for a win at No. 1 doubles, and Erin Gisler and Shawna Downs won at No. 3 singles for the Cats.

Hull and Lebedeva won singles matches, and Gisler and Downs combined for a doubles win, but the Wildcats lost 4-3 to Gunn.

Girls Volleyball

Alyson Coler drilled 32 kills in two matches, but the Gatos girls volleyball team won just one of two De Anza Division decisions last week.

Coler's 15 kills led the Cats to a 15-6, 15-7, 15-6 win over Lynbrook to open the week, but despite 17 kills by Coler the Cats lost 11-15, 15-5, 7-15, 15-5, 15-12 to St. Francis.

Boys Water Polo

Bobby Crowder and Marc Walleen pumped in four goals apiece to lead the Los Gatos boys water polo team to a thrilling 16-15 win over Cupertino last week in De Anza Division play.

Philip Roan and Kyle Dixon drilled three goals each in the Gatos win, and Brett Bertocci added two. The win helped the Cats improve to 3-1 in division play.

Gatos, 11-4 for the year, finished sixth in the St. Francis Invitational last weekend. The Cats lost 15-6 to Live Oak despite two goals each by Walleen and Roan, but came back to beat Serra 7-2.

The Wildcats lost 10-6 to Los Altos in the fifth-place game. Crowder had three goals, Walleen two and Roan one.

Girls Water Polo

Alix Eastman buried eight goals, but the Los Gatos girls water polo team lost a tough 9-8 decision to Valley Christian in a recent nonleague game.

Boys Cross Country

Russ Martin and Tomas Viramontes each finished in the top 10 to lead the Los Gatos varsity cross country team to a second-place finish behind McFarland at the Fresno Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno last weekend.

Martin finished third overall in 16:21 on the 3.1-mile course and Viramontes was ninth in 16:41.

Zack Regner was close behind in 11th place in 16:48, with Matt Bates hot on his heels in 12th in 16:56.

Jeff Hoeft ended up 24th in 17:16, with Greg Tolan 29th in 17:49 and Darren Key 31st in 17:55.

McFarland, the No. 1 rated team in the state Division 4 rankings, ran up a low 44 points to win the team title, with Los Gatos, a top Division 3 team, second with 59 points.

Girls Cross Country

Heather Hennessy was third overall to spark the Gatos girls to a team second at Crystal Springs last week.

Hennessy covered the three miles in 19:26 to lead the Cats to a second behind Sacred Heart. Half Moon Bay was third overall.

"We raced the people who did not run on the Crystal Springs course last Saturday," said Gatos coach Willie Harmatz, who had split his team a week earlier to compete in two different events. "This half of the team placed second, and the other half placed second last Saturday.

Los Gatos will head to Mt. Sac for a tough meet on Oct. 22, then the Cats will run in the SCVAL finals two weeks later at Crystal Springs.

Lynsey Harris supported Hennessy's effort by finishing 17th in 20:59, with Theresa Rehder 23rd in 21:35, Kate Leary 37th in 22:31 and Simone Drucker 39th in 22:32.

Angela McBeath led the girls junior varsity effort, finishing in sixth place in 22:55.

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