Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Lowballing It: Willow Glen's Nicki Garcia tossed the Rams to a 2-0 victory over Mt. Pleasant in Santa Teresa Division play last week. Garcia struck out 12 on her way to a three-hit shutout.




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Hunter, Butera net third

Willow Glen tops in volleyball

By Dick Sparrer

Jonathan Hunter and Vince Butera have spent most of the year on the singles ladder for the Willow Glen tennis team this spring.

But the two can play doubles, too, and they proved it last week at the individual tournament in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

Hunter and Butera joined forces to enter the division's doubles tournament, and they finished up third in the league.

Hunter and Butera held down Willow Glen's No. 1 and 2 singles posts during the regular season, but they teamed up for the finals and opened the tournament with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 victory over a team from Piedmont Hills.

The Willow Glen duo lost 6-4, 6-3 to the eventual tourney champions from Prospect, but they regrouped in time to knock off another Piedmont Hills pair to clinch third place.

Hunter and Butera lost a heartbreaker in first set of the third-place match. The Rams and Pirates fought to a 6-6 tie, but Piedmont won the tiebreaker 8-6 to take the first set.

The Rams fought back for a 6-4 win in the second set to even the match, then won it with a 6-1 victory in the third and deciding set.

For Butera, the doubles experience was really nothing new. He played in the No. 1 doubles spot for the Rams in 1998. Hunter, though, played No. 3 singles last year before moving to No. 1 singles this season.

The Willow Glen twosome of Jose Ocampo and Nick Perez also entered the doubles event, but lost a three-set heartbreaker to a team from Piedmont Hills.

Ocampo and Perez lost 7-5 in the first set before winning an 8-6 tiebreaker to take the second set 7-6. Piedmont won the decider 6-2, though.

Volleyball Win

The Willow Glen boys volleyball team came through with a clutch win over Piedmont Hills last week to hold onto a share of first place in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.

The Rams entered the week locked in a virtual three-way tie for first in the circuit with Piedmont and San Jose Academy.

San Jose opened the week with a four-game win over Westmont (16-14, 14-16, 15-11, 15-10) to push its league record to 10-3, and Piedmont Hills knocked off Prospect in four (15-8, 5-15, 15-8, 15-9) to match that mark.

But Willow Glen whipped the Pirates in three straight (15-10, 15-9, 15-13) to drop Piedmont out of the first-place tie.

Willow Glen improved to 11-3 in the division and to a 11-4 for the year with the win. San Jose is close behind at 10-3, with Piedmont Hills a match off the pace at 10-4.

Softball Shutouts

The Willow Glen and Presentation girls softball teams found themselves on the opposite ends of shutouts in BVAL play last week.

The Rams, behind the strong right arm of Nicki Garcia, blanked Mt. Pleasant 2-0 for a victory in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.

Garcia allowed just three hits and struck out 12 to toss the Rams to the win over the Cardinals. She also struck the key blow at the plate with a two-run double in the top half of the eighth to break a scoreless tie.

Desirae Dagnino singled and doubled, and Erin Booth slapped two hits to round out the five-hit attack for the Rams.

The clubs were locked in a scoreless tie through the regulation seven innings, but Garcia broke the tie with her double in the top of the eighth. She blanked the Cards in the bottom of the inning to nail down the victory. The win helped the Rams improve to 4-8 in division play and to 8-9 for the year.

Presentation played a close game in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL, but the Panthers lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Leland.

Denise Arde tossed a four-hitter, but she was touched for a single run in the fourth inning, and that would prove the game winner. The loss left the Panthers 4-6 in the division and 17-9 for the season.

Rams fall

The Willow Glen baseball team dropped an 11-2 decision to Leigh in Santa Teresa play last week. Will Rideau and Gabe Candelaria ripped two hits apiece for the Rams and Joe Cistulli doubled.

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