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It was billed as a showdown between the last two undefeated girls’ water polo teams in the PAL Bay Division — Castilleja against Menlo-Atherton. Actually, it was more than that.
“This is a rivalry game,” said Castilleja coach Ted Minnis. “(M-A coach) Chris (Rubin) played for me and I went to M-A. He knows me and knows my coaching style. So, it makes for a good rivalry.”
It’s also a rivalry that no team has dominated recently. A few years ago, when Kelly Eaton was a senior and helped M-A reach the Central Coast Section Division II finals, it was the Bears’ time to reign.
Castilleja also has had its moments, splitting with the Bears in 2006 and beating them at the St. Francis Invitational this season.
Menlo-Atherton, however, evened the score on Wednesday with a 6-4 come-from-behind victory to take sole possession of first place in the PAL Bay Division at 3-0 (7-5 overall). Castilleja fell to 2-1 in league (9-2 overall).
“We didn’t catch a break on a couple of shots. That’s the way it goes,” said Minnis, whose team came in tied for No. 2 in the CCS. “We definitely made some mistakes that they capitalized on. Good teams do that.
“I told the girls that a loss on Oct. 3 doesn’t make or break a season,” continued Minnis. “It’s only the 11th game.”
In fact, neither team has reached the halfway point of the season. Both teams have plenty of time to correct what they need in order to make a run into the section playoffs, which both should do.
Castilleja jumped to a 2-0 lead, despite missing an early penalty shot, after sisters Ericka and Natasha von Kaeppler tallied goals in the first and second quarters. At that point, it appeared the Gators had the match under control as neither team was getting off many shots.
The Bears rallied, however, as Morgan Leech and Lauren Knox scored in the second quarter to deadlock the match by halftime.
“That was big to score those two goals before halftime, to get back the momentum,” Rubin said.
Castilleja regained the lead with 2:28 to play in the third on Ericka von Kaeppler’s goal, but M-A’s Becca Dorst didn’t waste time and made it 3-3 with a goal in a 6-on-5 situation. Less than 30 seconds later, von Kaeppler scored again for a 4-3 game.
As has been the rivalry, the game swung back to the Bears when Dorst scored on a counter with 45 seconds to play.
Leech scored again just into the fourth quarter and the Bears’ quickly applied defensive pressure. When Leech made it 6-4 with 1:08 left, it was all over but the celebrating.
Actually, the celebrating will have to wait. The Bears still must host Aragon next Wednesday in what should decide the division race — should the Bears win. If the Dons pull an upset, the Bay Division could wind up in a tie between M-A and Castilleja or the Bears and Menlo. Castilleja visits Menlo next Wednesday to likely decide second place.
Thus, Rubin wasn’t looking too far past Wednesday’s win, which saw the Bears lose starter Anna Geiduschek to fouls in the third quarter and Leech to a third ejection late in the fourth. Still, the Bears had enough to hold on.
“We’re young,” he said. “We have five of our top eight players returning next season.”
What Menlo-Atherton may lack in experience, the Bears make up in desire and defense.
“We’ve been playing excellent defense,” Rubin said. “That’s what’s been keeping us in games. To hold them (the Gators) to four goals was an accomplishment.”
Menlo (3-1, 7-9) has put itself firmly in the title picture following a 15-6 win at Burlingame on Wednesday. The Knights have been beaten up in tournaments this season, but still need to be reckoned with. Seniors Cayley Bowles and Brittany Westerman both scored five goals while Sara Madding added three against the Panthers. Senior goalie Elise Ponce had another solid effort with 14 saves.
Palo Alto (2-1, 7-6), which saw its SCVAL De Anza Division title hopes perhaps sunk by an 11-9 overtime loss to Los Altos on Monday, bounced back with a 16-9 swamping of host Gunn on Wednesday.
Hallie Kennan led the Vikings with five goals while Lizzie Abbott and Emily Kennan scored three each. The Titans (0-3) got three goals each from Catherine Anderson and Emily Viggiano.
Cross country
Gunn freshman Jackie Evans remains undefeated after two invitationals, her latest triumph coming last Saturday at the Ram Invitational at Westmoor High. Evans clocked 14:40, the eighth-fastest time ever on the hilly 2.4-mile course, to lead the Titans to the team title with 49 points. Junior Allegra Mayer was third in 14:56, freshman Emma Dohner was ninth in 15:30, junior Joanne Reid 10th in 15:32 and junior Tara Saxena brought it home in 26th (16:45).
The Titans defeated Castro Valley and St. Ignatius (ranked No. 3 in the CCS).
Tennis
Palo Alto, coming off a 4-0 performance to win its own invitational last weekend, remained undefeated this week. The Vikings first romped to an embarrassingly easy 7-0 win over host Santa Clara on Tuesday, losing only three games while winning five matches, 6-0, 6-0, in the SCVAL El Camino Division match.
The Vikings (6-0, 14-0) then took on rival Gunn on Wednesday and posted a 5-2 nonleague victory as Janet Liu, Emma Marti and Mira Khanna won their respective singles matches in straight sets. Gracie Dulik and Sophie Biffar added a key point with a quick 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles.
Sacred Heart Prep (6-1, 10-2) kept its WCAL regular-season title hopes alive with a 4-3 triumph over St. Francis on Tuesday at Cuesta Park in Mountain View. The Gators, who already have lost to Mitty this season, needed a victory to remain a game back of the Monarchs with one more meeting between the teams coming up.
Against the pesky Lancers, Sacred Heart lost three singles matches (out of five) but swept the two doubles matches. Erin McMahon and Edita Robinson clinched the victory with a 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-4 triumph at No. 1 doubles.
In the PAL Bay Division, Menlo (7-0, 10-2) rolled over host Aragon, 7-0, while improving its winning streak in league matches to 143-0 since 1994. Menlo-Atherton (7-1, 8-1) remained a game back of the Knights with an easy 7-0 victory over Burlingame.
In the Private Schools Athletic League, Pinewood (3-0, 5-5) remained atop the league standings with a 7-0 victory at Fremont Christian. Angela Gradiska, Lindsay Nickel, Liza Belogolovsky and Courtney Sanders combined to lose only four games in singles.
In the West Bay Athletic League, Woodside Priory (2-1) remained in the league race with a 7-0 win over visiting Mercy-Burlingame as Ali Goodyear, Lani Wenger, Kimberley Carlisle and Tomomi Menjo also only lost four games combined in singles play.
Volleyball
Menlo (4-1, 13-6) remained tied for first place earlier in the week with a 25-9, 25-21, 25-18 victory over visiting Menlo-Atherton (1-4, 4-10) in PAL Bay Division action.
Freshman Allie Frappier continues to shine for the Knights following her nine kills and three blocks against the Bears, who got seven kills from their top freshman, Regina Mullen.
Lizzie Hale, Ali Pace, Alexis Schwartz and Katherine Gorman all had big hands in the win along with junior setter Molly Bagshaw, who contributed 25 assists, four digs and three kills to the winning effort.
In the PSAL, Pinewood (1-0, 10-5) opened league play with a 25-21, 25-19, 25-20 win over Redwood Christian as freshman Hailie Eackles and senior Katie Mo combined for 25 kills while senior Sammie Cardenas added 23 assists.
