Prep Volleyball Report
Homestead edge MV
Homestead outlasted host Mountain View in five games Oct. 6 in what Mustang coach Kyle Kurtz called "a long battle."
Homestead, which improved to 3-3 in the SCVAL El Camino Division and 6-10 overall, won 11-15, 15-6, 8-15, 19-17, 15-9.
The Mustangs were led by Adrienne Hoopes (25 kills), Min Young Kim (11 kills, 38 digs) and Kelly Colvin (19 assists, 19 digs).
Caroline Wilmuth had 16 kills for the Spartans, who fell to 2-4 in the division and 7-16 overall.
Gunn shot down
Gunn is finding life in the De Anza Division to be as tough as advertised.
The Titans, who didn't lose a single match last season in the lower El Camino Division, entered this week with a 1-4 record in the De Anza.
The Titans' latest loss was a 14-16, 15-10, 15-4, 15-3 defeat at the hands of host Lynbrook last Thursday.
Panthers fall
There are few volleyball teams in the Central Coast Section that can beat Los Altos High, even fewer that can do so in straight games.
St. Francis, however, is one of them. In a battle of two teams ranked among the top 10 in the CCS, St. Francis disposed of host Los Altos 15-12, 15-11, 15-7 last Thursday.
"They're a great team," Los Altos coach Jason Mansfield said of St. Francis, "but I don't think we played our best. We were a little intimidated when we needed to be aggressive."
The win gave the top-ranked Lancers (6-0) a two-game lead over Los Altos (3-2) in the SCVAL De Anza Division.
"It was a nice win, and I'm pleased with the girls' performance," said coach Dave Gambelin, who's guided St. Francis to back-to-back state championships. "We had a good game plan and the girls stuck to it and were able to frustrate Los Altos."
Gambelin said the game plan involved keeping the ball away from Los Altos middle blockers Mariah Pospisil and Alex Brown, two of the Eagles' best players.
"Los Altos is strong in the middle," Gambelin said, "so we tried to keep the ball near the antennas."
Although Pospisil and Brown led Los Altos in kills, neither reached double digits. Pospisil had eight kills and Brown finished with seven.
"(St. Francis) did a good job slowing them down," Mansfield said, "but they didn't stop them. Mariah still had five blocks and Alex had four."
The strategy also allowed St. Francis to take full advantage of its talented outside hitters. Melissa Borelli recorded 11 kills and three blocks, while freshman Colby Lyman came up with 10 kills, six blocks and 12 digs. Middle blockers Becky Biniek and Kelly Corbett added seven and eight kills, respectively.
"Their outside hitters were better than ours (Thursday) night," Mansfield said.
The player setting up most of the Lancers' kills was Hayley Anderson, who racked up 32 assists.
"Hayley was our best player," Gambelin said. "She had an excellent game."
St. Francis played again on Friday, beating host Mitty 15-11, 15-17, 16-14, 15-13 in a non-league match. Corbett led the Lancers (11-0 overall) with 23 kills.
"A heartbreaker." That's how Pinewood coach Cindy Osmanian described last Friday's 15-10, 8-15, 15-10, 14-16, 17-19 home loss to Fremont Christian.
The Panthers were led by Katie Collins (11 kills, six blocks) and Brett Smith-Hams (nine kills).