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Menlo lost the first two sets and then rallied to win the match. Photo taken Oct. 26, 2021 by Rick Eymer. -
Sacred Heart Prep players kept their eyes on the ball. Photo taken Oct. 26, 2021 by Rick Eymer. -
Mountain View ended the regular season with a five-set victory over Los Gatos on Tuesday night. Photo taken Sept. 1, 2021 by Rick Eymer. -
Palo Alto seniors (l. to r. back) Thea Enache, Amelia Vugrincic, Olivia Harrison, Alex Franklin. (l. to r. front) Alison Xiong, Hillary Cheung, Hathaway Bush, Hailey Callan. Photo taken Oct. 26, 2021 by Karen Ambrose Hickey. -
Gunn seniors (in no particular order) Kaylin Hallada, Valeria Werbrouck, Jessica Zang, Micaela Leong, Hannah Zhang, and Lillian Ding. Photo taken Oct. 26, 2021 by Butch Garcia.
Menlo senior Kami Israelski went to the service line with a little more adrenaline than usual.
“I was excited,” she said. “I wanted to do it for the team and it was my last chance to beat Sacred Heart Prep.”
She took the ball with the fifth set tied at 11-11 and aced her first serve to give Menlo the lead for good.
She then kept the Gators off balance with two more sizzling serves and Menlo went up 14-11.
Moments later Menlo completed an extraordinary comeback to finish the West Bay Athletic League regular season undefeated, beating Sacred Heart Prep 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 15-12 Tuesday in a match both teams played championship caliber girls volleyball.
“I just put my trust in my team,” Israelski said. “At the end of the day, I knew we could do it.”
“She was serving bullets all night long,” Menlo senior Simone Adam said. “She did her job.”
Menlo (26-5, 10-0) won its 16th straight match. The Knights five losses have been to teams with a combined winning percentage of .782 as of Tuesday.
“It was serving,” Menlo coach Tony Holland said of the difference in the first two sets with the final three sets. “They played incredible defense and got us off our game. For 2 1/2 sets, really, we served on top of them. We believe in making a player or a set of players make a decision.”
Sacred Heart Prep (24-3, 8-2) has lost to teams with a combined winning percentage of .813 and all are either champions or co-champions of their respective leagues.
“It’s always a dogfight with them,” Sacred Heart Prep coach Allison Magner said. “You’re playing against an incredible team that is well-coached and it was Senior Night. I’m super proud of the girls. We will learn from this. The girls have been grinding day in and day out, watching film, putting together game strategies. It’s been an absolute success.”
Both teams turn their attention to the post-season, with the possibility of participating in the CCS Open Division. The seeding meeting is noon Thursday, with first round matches beginning Saturday.
“We’d be thrilled to compete at the highest level,” Magner said. “We want to be challenged.”
Mia Radeff paced SHP with 17 kills. Ellie Wheeler recorded 27 digs, Millie Muir had 12 kills, 26 assists and 13 digs while Isabelle Marco had 11 kills, 28 assists and 14 digs.
Menlo avoided the same fate as Los Gatos, which lost its first league match at Mountain View 25-22, 20-25, 28-26, 23-25, 15-13 Tuesday.
The Spartans (22-4, 9-3) grabbed sole possession of second place in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division, breaking a three-way tie with Palo Alto and Los Altos.
Palo Alto (18-12, 8-4) ended the regular season with a home win against Monta Vista 22-25, 25-12, 27-25, 25-20.
Gunn (13-19, 2-10) also won at home, beating Homestead in four sets.
In the PAL Bay Division, Menlo-Atherton lost at Burlingame 17-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-11.
