The Los Altos girls volleyball team would do well to heed the words of Hall of Fame pitching great Satchel Paige, who famously said, “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”
For Los Altos, that “something” would be Homestead, which kept the heat on the undefeated Eagles last week with an easy win over Mountain View in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Seniors Katie Barker and Connor Bunka pounded down 12 kills apiece to pace the Mustangs to a 25-22, 25-13, 25-23 triumph over the Spartans. Sofia Olsson chipped in with eight kills for the winners.
The win raised Homestead’s league record to 6-1, keeping them right behind the Eagles, who moved to 7-0 with victories of their own over Gunn and Palo Alto. Los Altos ended the week 21-3 overall and ranked 12th in the state, just behind Presentation.
Prior to its two league victories, Los Altos captured the St. Ignatius Golden Gate Classic tournament by winning all five of its matches, defeating Marin Academy, Watsonville, host St. Ignatius, Homestead and Redwood.
Homestead went 3-2 in the S.I. Classic, beating Sacred Heart (25-17, 21-25, 15-5), Lowell (22-25, 29-27, 19-17) and St. Ignatius (25-22, 26-24), while losing to Los Altos and Redwood (19-25, 25-21, 10-15). Barker led the Mustangs’ strong tourney showing with a team-leading 50 kills, and Bunka added another 41.
In other De Anza Division action, the Los Gatos Wildcats remained in third place with a straight set 25-14, 25-20, 25-18 victory over Monta Vista. Gatos lifted its league record to 4-2 with the win and moved to 16-8 overall. Meanwhile, the Matadors remained winless, falling to 0-7 after straight set losses to Los Gatos and Gunn.
The Mats did manage to post a win in tournament competition, defeating International of San Francisco (25-15, 25-23) after sustaining successive losses to South San Francisco (20-25, 21-25) and Half Moon Bay (18-25, 20-25).
Monta Vista is 8-5 in non-league matches this season.
In the El Camino Division of the SCVAL, Lynbrook registered a 25-23, 25-14, 25-14 triumph over Santa Clara behind freshman Amy Steinmetz’s 10 kills and sophomore Jiayi Shen’s 29 assists.
The victory upped the Vikings to 6-1 in El Camino Division play, keeping them nipping at the heels of unbeaten Saratoga (5-0).
The Vikes also scored a 25-21, 13-25, 25-22, 25-17 win over Fremont as Steinmetz again paved the way with 12 kills. Sophomore Morgan Wu added eight kills and five service aces, and Shen dished out 23 assists.
Fremont, which also lost 25-17, 18-25, 25-14, 23-25, 8-15 to Cupertino, ended the week 1-6 in league play. The Pioneers, meanwhile, raised their El Camino Division ledger to 3-4, thanks to the play of Michelle Pyke (11 kills, 5 aces, 14 digs), Leah Ramirez (8 kills), Lisa Qing (8 kills), Niharika Sanghavi (7 kills, 5 blocks), Rithu Simha (5 blocks) and Kristen Nagamatsu (33 assists).
