as many as two more victories to Bowen’s total this season until Tuesday’s loss. The defending champion Knights (17-9), who beat Los Altos in last season’s semifinals (18-6), couldn’t do it again as Menlo gave up more than 10 goals for only the third time this season. Despite holding a 7-4 halftime lead, the Knights’ inexperience — Menlo lost five of seven starters off its 2010 championship team — showed in the second half as the Eagles outscored the Knights in the final period, 4-0.
CCS ROUNDUP
It’ll be a busy day for these SHP teams Three of four Sacred Heart Prep teams playing Saturday will be competing for section championships in the section playoffs this weekend (football, volleyball and two water polo squads), but only three teams will be playing Saturday. Rodriguez has all four on the same day. Two SHP teams put that scenario in motion with victories on Wednesday. With senior Pippa Temple pouring in seven goals, the SHP girls’ water polo team advanced to the CCS Division II championship match with a 17-5 dunking of No. 4 Burlingame in the section semifinals at Gunn High. Bridgette Harper added four goals and sophomore goalie Kelly Moran had 13 saves for the Gators (23-5). Los Altos (19-7) will be playing in only its first CCS title match. The Eagles advanced with a 13-10 win over No. 3 St. Ignatius. “We’re excited to play in the finals on Saturday,” said SHP Jon Burke, who in his six years with the Gators is 147-27 with six straight appearances in the CCS division finals. “We’ve prepared for this opportunity and we’re hoping to play up to our potential. “We’re going to need to play great defense against Los Altos. They have a number of scoring threats. Our counter-attack will be important, as well. We have to use our team speed and conditioning for four quarters.” The Sacred Heart Prep volleyball team will play for a third straight CCS Division IV championship on Saturday after sweeping aside No. 5 seed Harbor, 25-21, 25-19, 25-16 in the semifinals on Wednesday at Menlo School. The top-seeded Gators (23-6) will face No. 2 Soquel (30-4), which will be making its first appearance in any CCS title match since 1992. Sacred Heart Prep, which has won 12 section titles and reached the finals 15 times since 1988, got 12 kills and five blocks from junior Ellie Shannon while senior Jesse Ebner added nine kills and six blocks in the quick victory. Senior Olivia Bertolacci had nine digs while Helen Gannon played well in the back row as a defensive specialist.
Men’s soccer
Vazzano, who works in the Menlo Sports Information office, plans to take a red-eye out of the Bay Area on Friday night. The Oaks traveled Thursday, have a practice scheduled Friday and an NAIA sponsored banquet in the evening. Southern Poly, located in Marietta, has a 4-2-2 record against teams in the NAIA field. Menlo is 0-0-1, playing No. 19 Biola to a draw on Sept. 17. The Oaks have won 11 straight since that contest. Joining Zipperstein are Sacred Heart Prep grad Alex Vukic, the Oaks’ second-leading scorer with nine goals, and Menlo-Atherton grad Enrique Ortiz. Vukic also serves as a co-captain with Zipperstein. “Alex always tries to be positive and gives maximum effort,” Keller
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Menlo with 11 assists. “The team respects his level of play,” Keller said. “They respect him for what he does.” Zipperstein is one of several local athletes on Menlo’s men’s soccer team who will participate in the school’s first-ever appearance at the NAIA tournament this weekend. The Oaks (13-3-1) travel to Georgia to meet sixth-ranked Southern Poly (15-2-2) in Saturday’s firstround match. The contest will be streamed live over the web beginning at 10 a.m. (PST) The direct link is http://www.ustream.tv/channel/men-s-soccer. Announcer Dylan
Keith Peters
by Keith Peters or one who likes to support his teams as much as possible, Sacred Heart Prep Athletic Director Frank Rodriguez will be a busy man on Saturday with four of his squads participating in Central Coast Section playoffs — three of them in championships. If everything works out as planned with no overtimes, Rodriguez just might be able to watch all four. But, it will take a bit of driving. The top-seeded Sacred Heart Prep girls’ water polo team will go after a record fifth straight CCS Division II title on Saturday morning, taking on No. 2 seed Los Altos at Independence High in San Jose at 10 a.m. Following that match at 11:30 a.m., the top-seeded Sacred Heart Prep boys’ water polo team also will take on Los Altos, seeded No. 3, in the CCS Division II title match in the same pool. The Gators are looking for a fifth section crown. At that point, Rodriguez will have to put the pedal to the metal and head back to school to catch the No. 4-seeded Gators’ football team hosting No. 5 Scotts Valley in a CCS Division IV opener that starts at 1 p.m. Once that game finishes, Rodriguez will head back to Independence to watch the Gators’ top-seeded girls’ volleyball team take on No. 2 Soquel in the CCS Division IV championship match at 4:30 p.m. “I will be at water polo for both games and be a bit late for football (last year I got there at the end of the 1st quarter),” Rodriguez said. “I’ll then head back down to Independence for volleyball. This is the same schedule I used last year (the first year I missed the boys’ CCS championship water polo game to get back here to oversee our firstever home CCS football game). “It is a crazy day for sure but one we feel so fortunate to experience . . . several of our “Gator Nation” students/parents/fans will be hustling to all four events, so I’m nothing special.” St. Francis is the only other CCS school that has four teams playing
Sacred Heart Prep senior Erin Sheridan and her water polo teammates will seek a fifth straight CCS Division II title on Saturday. On Tuesday, the Sacred Heart Prep boys’ water polo team overcame a one-goal deficit with under five minutes to overtake No. 4 Soquel, 16-13, and advance to the CCS Division II finals. The Gators (18-10) will play No. 3 seed Los Altos (20-5) for the title on Saturday at Independence High. This will be SHP’s seventh-straight appearance in the finals. The Eagles upset No. 2 seed and defending champion Menlo School in the other semifinal, 11-8. SHP coach Brian Kreutzkamp is hoping for healthier players come game time. “We are very under the weather,” he said. “We had six guys miss practice the day before this (semifinal) game, and (goalie) Will (Runkel) is certainly sick. So, our game plan for Saturday is to get healthy and be at 100 percent physically, first and foremost. “Los Altos has two big, strong 2-meter men in Orton and Warmoth that we will need to stop. Although they have less weapons offensively than Soquel does, their team defense is very strong.” In other CCS playoff action this week:
semifinals in the Knights’ gym on Wednesday. The No. 3-seeded Knights (24-8) wrapped up a fine season despite a 25-12, 24-26, 2520, 22-25, 16-14 setback.
Girls’ volleyball Menlo School saw its season end in a five-set loss to No. 2-seeded Soquel in the CCS Division IV
Boys’ water polo Palo Alto saw its solid season end in a 16-5 loss to No. 2 seed Bellarmine in the Central Coast Section Division I boys’ water polo semifinals on Wednesday at Serra High. The No. 6-seeded Vikings (17-13) fell behind by 5-1 after one quarter and trailed 8-1 at the half to the Bells (19-9), who will play No. 1 St. Francis (an 11-5 winner over Leland) in the CCS finals on Saturday at Independence High at 2:30 p.m. Sophomore Will Conner and freshman Nelson Perla-Ward each scored twice for the Vikings with senior Aaron Zelinger adding one. Zelinger is one of only four seniors on the team. The others playing in their final match were goalie Daniel Armitano, Peter Rockhold and Ethan Mellberg. A rematch of last season’s Division II final was wiped out by Los Altos in the second semifinal on Tuesday at Serra, which saw Menlo coach Jack Bowen’s march toward a milestone end. While Bowen will win his 300th game next season after improving his 12-year record with the Knights to 297-76, Menlo could have added
said. “He’s likable because he’s well-meaning and treats people with respect.” Keller, in his second year with Menlo, set the foundation with last year’s group, which included Zipperstein and Vukic. Keller said Zipperstein “recruited himself” to Menlo after spending time at Foothill College. The former All-SCVAL baseball player turned out to be one of the most productive players. “It all started last year with a group of guys who came in and created a great atmosphere,” Keller said. “That core of guys really fostered a winning attitude themselves. Our goal was to win a conference championship and go to the national tournament, though I don’t think we could honestly say it would happen
so quickly.” Menlo’s confidence soared after beating defending champion Holy Names, 1-0, at home on Oct. 15. The miracle that is junior goalkeeper Alex Palomarez showed up that day as he made two incredible saves that clinched the win and sparked the playoff run. The Oaks allowed 13 goals in their first 10 games. They have allowed one since. “You could really see that confidence soar and it showed the rest of the way,” Keller said. “Alex worked very hard and had a great year. All of the goalkeepers worked hard. Alex was at his best when his best was needed.” Palomarez was recognized as Cal Pac Conference Player of the Year for his efforts while Keller was
Girls’ water polo Senior Elizabeth Anderson scored 132 goals this season for Gunn. Only one, however, came in Tuesday night’s 15-9 loss to No. 2 Leland in the CCS Division I semifinals at Gunn High. Anderson, the key to the Titans’ offense all season, was held in check by the Chargers. While seniors Missy Barr and Soumya Kannan each came through with three goals each for the No. 3-seeded Titans (21-7), Leland (23-5) rode six unanswered goals into the lead and ended Gunn’s season in the semifinals for the second straight year. “This was obviously not the way we drew it up, and I’m very sad this team won’t get to play together again,” said Gunn coach Mark Hernandez. “But, Leland deserves all the credit in the world. They played an excellent game. They came out aggressive and were relentless on offense, and remarkably quick on defense.” The Menlo-Atherton and St. Francis girls’ water polo teams, meanwhile, met the three previous seasons in the CCS Division I finals with all three matches decided by just one goal. That was not the case in their fourth meeting as the No. 1-seeded Lancers (21-6) handed the No. 4 Bears (14-11) a 9-4 defeat in the section semifinals on Tuesday at Gunn High. The loss ended M-A’s streak of four straight appearances in the finals. Girls’ tennis Menlo School wrapped up its season with an 11-5 loss to top seed Monta Vista in the CCS tournament semifinals Monday at Courtside Club in Los Gatos. The No. 4-seeded Knights finished with a 20-5 overall mark. The Knights faced Monta Vista (23-0) three times during the season, but the third time still wasn’t a charm for Menlo. N named Coach of the Year and Eric Angell was honored as Newcomer of the Year. Angell, Matheus Barbosa, Palomarez, Eric Tilbury, Vukic and Zipperstein were named all-Cal Pac. Menlo is one of seven teams making its first appearance in the national tournament. “It’s one thing to say you want to win a title and play in the postseason,” Keller said. “Now we have proof that we can do it. That helps open the door for recruits who are looking to play for winning programs and want an opportunity to play on a national stage. It definitely raises the bar another level. This becomes the new standard. We’ve won the conference title and now we want to win it again next year.” N
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