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Just a couple of days after suffering its first loss of the PAL Bay Division season, the Menlo girls’ volleyball team did something it was unable to do a year ago — beat Carlmont.
The Knights moved back into a tie for first place in the PAL Bay Division
with a thrilling 15-25, 30-28, 25-15, 20-25, 15-5 victory over the visiting Scots on Thursday night.
Menlo improved to 10-4 overall and is now 3-1 in the Bay Division, tied for the lead with the Scots and Woodside, which defeated Menlo on Tuesday.
The wild Bay Division has seen Carlmont beat Woodside, Woodside top Menlo and now Menlo topple Carlmont. Barring any upsets, the second half of the division season should be very interesting with the Knights hosting the Wildcats but traveling to face the Scots.
“We have been struggling a little all season to really get going, but (Thursday) the girls really came together and played wonderfully as a team,” said Menlo coach Chris Crader. “Every one of them really put everything she had into the match, and into our team, and it was great to see them get rewarded for their tremendous effort.
“We really don’t have any one hitting superstar who can go toe-to-toe with players like (Carlmont’s) Justine Record or Colleen Garrett, especially with (Menlo’s) Abby Whelan still not quite back from her ankle injury. But when we have all 15 girls working together like that, we can be really good.”
After losing the first game, Menlo senior Emily Anderson was inserted into the lineup. Trailing 17-12 in the second game, the Knights rallied. Despite squandering four game points with errors, Menlo persevered and was able to level the match with a 30-28 game win.
The Knights controlled the entire third game, and the teams were tied at 20 in the fourth.
It wasn’t surprising to see a fifth game because Menlo and Carlmont went to five games in both contests last year. The Scots won their home match 16-14 in the fifth game and won in Atherton 15-13 in the fifth.
On Thursday, there wasn’t as much drama. Menlo went up 2-1 to send senior Lindsey Barnett to the service line, and Barnett served up seven more points for an almost insurmountable 9-1 lead. Barnett had five digs and a kill in the fifth game, including three great digs of powerful attacks from Carlmont star Colleen Garrett. Carlmont got no closer than 9-3, 10-4 and 11-5 before Menlo junior Molly Bagshaw served out the match.
Junior Lizzie Hale led Menlo with 15 kills and a .345 hitting percentage while Anderson hit .316 with eight kills as Menlo’s passing and Bagshaw’s setting allowed the Knights to run their quick attack very effectively.
Menlo junior Alexis Schwartz had nine kills and a team-high 14 digs, senior tri-captain Natalie Sandman had nine kills and two blocks, and Barnett tallied seven kills, 13 digs and a pair of aces. Bagshaw tallied a season-best 54 assists, 12 digs, four kills and two aces while senior tri-captains Aly McKinnon (11 digs, 3 aces) and Katherine Gorman (13 digs) kept passing her the ball very accurately.
Menlo returns to action Friday and Saturday at the Mitty Tournament.
In other volleyball action Thursday:
Palo Alto (4-0, 16-7) held off visiting Saratoga, 25-14, 24-26, 25-19, 23-25, 15-13 in a wild SCVAL De Anza Division match. Paly junior Ally Whitson had a career-high 20 kills while senior Hillary Ford added 10. Euna Oh contributed 26 digs while Jessie Juarez had a career-hgh 43 assists and Daniella Florant produced six blocks.
Whitson had seven of her kills in Game 5 to help rally the Vikings from a 12-9 deficit.
“We were down 12-9 when I called my last timeout,” said Paly coach Dave Winn. “I just implored our players to forget about anything else other than how much they wanted to win. They responded with so much heart; makes me proud to be their coach.”
Gunn (0-3, 14-3) remained winless in SCVAL De Anza Division action after a 14-0 start in preseason following a 21-25, 2-16, 25-22, 25-16 loss at Mountain View (2-2). Tiffany Stone paced the Titans with 14 kills.
In the West Bay Athletic League, Castilleja (3-1, 16-4) defeated host Notre Dame-San Jose, 26-24, 23-25, 25-27, 25-18, 15-11. Gators’ junior Taylor Docter had a big match with 31 kills and 13 digs while teammates Moran Jones (60 assists) and Audrey Kuan (38 digs) had significant contributions, as well.
In nonleague action, Pinewood (10-5) swept visiting Eastside Prep, 25-12, 25-19, 25-23. Mika Chan had 20 assists while Hailie Eackles contributed eight kills and 11 digs. Sammie Cardenas and Audrey Proulx combined for 24 assists.
Girls tennis
Menlo-Atherton (5-1, 6-1) remained a game back of PAL Bay Division-leading Menlo with an easy 7-0 blanking of visiting Mills on Thursday. Marietta Tuionetoa, Marjorie Adams, Paige Keating and Meg Haley swept the singles in straight sets while losing only a total of 12 points.
In the SCVAL De Anza Division, Gunn (0-5, 2-5) continues to look for its first division win following a 4-3 loss at Lynbrook on Thursday. The match came down to No. 2 doubles where the Titans’ tandem of Monica Chu and Christine Juang dropped a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 decision.
In the West Catholic Athletic League, Sacred Heart Prep (5-1, 9-2) changed its lineup around and still had plenty to defeat visiting Presentation, 6-1, Thursday. Anne Robson, Andie Bradford, Erin McMahon and Edita Robinson swept the top four singles matches for the Gators.
Boys water polo
Palo Alto (1-0, 7-3) opened its SCVAL De Anza Division season with an 11-4 victory at Monta Vista on Thursday night. Tim Wenzlau and Michael Fortune each scored three goals and had two steals for the Vikings while Geng Wang added two goals, two steals and two assists. The Vikings will compete in the St. Francis Invitational on Friday and Saturday, along with Gunn and Menlo-Atherton.
Girls water polo
Sacred Heart Prep (2-0, 6-0) tuned up for the big NorCal Invitational Championship Tournament on Friday and Saturday in the Gators’ pool with an easy 15-1 win over host Presentation on Thursday. Sarah Bohannon, Laura Child and Pallavi Menon all scored three goals each for SHP while goalie Lindsay Dorst had 10 saves.
