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Palo Alto and Menlo-Atherton did not meet in girls volleyball last season for a number of reasons; the pandemic being foremost to blame.
Both schools, two of the better teams in the area, were also limited to league play, or in M-A’s case, district play.
That’s the backdrop for Palo Alto’s 25-19, 25-21, 25-15 nonleague victory over the visiting Bears in the season-opener for both teams Thursday.
In their previous meeting, M-A beat the Vikings in five sets in the first round of the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs on Nov. 2, 2019. M-A finished the season as the Northern California runner-up and Paly reached the NorCal regional semifinals.
“Last year was so chaotic, it does feel like a fresh start,” Paly coach Chris Crader said. “We have 13 returning players so there is some carryover but this year feels more exciting.”
In some ways, beating M-A was special. Crader’s first season at Paly was 2019 but he’s also been at Menlo School and Carlmont.
“In the last 10 years I’ve probably lost to M-A more often than any other team combined,” he said.
M-A second-year coach Bryant Tran got his first taste of the rivalry.
“I really didn’t understand the reputation of these teams,” said Tran, who grew up in the East Bay and has been a college coach. “This is definitely a new era. We understand where this program came from and respect the past. I’ve challenged this group to build their own legacy.”
In their last full season, Paly and M-A combined to go 48-15 (23-1 in league play) and both earned league titles.
They weren’t too bad during the shortened season either, each losing once in five sets and dominating otherwise.
Paly lists four players over six feet and all are athletic. Senior Olivia Harrison (6-2) was effective as a middle blocker. She shares the middle with junior Nika Chapin (6-1) and can be flanked by senior outside hitters Amelia Vugrincic (6-2) and Thea Enache (6-1).
Junior libero Jess Watanabe highlighted action in the back row.
M-A was led by junior opposite Anna Ryan with 13 kills and junior libero Clara Cronin, who recorded 22 digs.
Palo Alto opens the Spikefest tournament with a match against Santa Clara, Crader’s alum mater, Saturday morning. M-A hosts Sacred Heart Prep at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
SHP topped visiting Mills 25-9, 25-14, 25-5 in its opener.
Menlo School earned a big win Thursday, beating host Aragon 25-10, 25-18, 25-18 in a nonleague match.
“It was a good start,” Menlo coach Tony Holland said. “I’m happy with the collective mindset we had throughout the match. We were very aggressive from the service line, which is something we’ve been working on throughout the summer and into the preseason.”
Menlo senior Hanna Hoffman delivered 16 assists and served three of her five aces in the first set. She added six kills.
Outside hitter Sharon Nejad had a team-high seven kills while fellow senior Jazi Chen picked up five kills and had a team-high five blocks at middle.
Senior Zoe Gregory contributed 12 assists. In her prep debut, Lily Kautai collected five kills.
“We still have plenty to work on,” Holland said. “If we can find a way to compete consistently as we did in spots tonight, we have the opportunity to be a pretty good team.”
Menlo opens Spikefest against Castilleja on Saturday at Independence High. Castilleja beat host Summit Shasta 25-20, 19-25, 25-15, 25-15.
Gunn recorded a combined 17 service aces and opened its season with a 25-23, 25-8, 25-21 win over host Leland. Senior Kaylin Hallada had 13 kills for the Titans, who will compete in the Spikefest tournament on Saturday.
Girls golf
Senior Alanna Lee shot a round of 39 to help Gunn top visiting Sacred Heart Prep 224-266 in a nonleague match Thursday at Baylands Golf Links. The Titans are participating in the Helen Lengfeld Tournament on Monday at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
