The Los Altos girls volleyball team was on the brink of suffering its first loss of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League season last Wednesday against the second-place Homestead Mustangs. That is, until the dynamic duo of setter Joyce Christiansen-Salameh and hitter Carmen Annevelink seized control of the match.
Sparked by their play, the Eagles rallied to defeat the visiting Mustangs 25-23, 21-25, 24-26, 25-22, 15-12 to remain undefeated and in sole possession of first place in the SCVAL’s hotly-contested DeAnza Division.
Los Altos, which won for the 18th time in a row overall this year, raised its division-leading ledger to 9-0 and its overall record to 24-3. The Eagles ended the week ranked 13th in the state and 56th nationally.
Homestead, which could have moved into a tie for first with a win over Los Altos, fell to 7-2 in league and 15-12 overall. The Mustangs, who were coming off of a straight set win over Gunn, are ranked 85th in the state.
In order to stay unbeaten in SCVAL play, the Eagles received extraordinary performances from Christiansen-Salameh, who authored an amazing 53 assists, and Annevelink, who converted a match-high 36 kills. Also aiding the Eagle cause were Lulu Kishton (13 kills), Megan Wilhelm (7 service aces and 6 blocked shots) and Sarah Tritschler (18 digs).
The Mustangs’ upset bid was spearheaded by Katie Barker (23 kills) and Connor Bunka (11 kills).
The Eagles, who have not lost since dropping a non-league match to Presentation back on Sept. 19, were coming off of a 25-16, 25-13, 25-27, 25-12 triumph over the Monta Vista Matadors.
The Mats, who dropped to 0-9 in SCVAL play, received strong performances from Ellie Cary (7 kills, 5 aces) and Alia Johnson (6 kills, 5 aces) in the loss.
The Los Gatos Wildcats moved into a virtual tie for second place with Homestead by beating Mountain View 11-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-18 and Gunn 25-9, 25-18, 25-21 last week. The Cats, who have won four in a row since losing to Los Altos earlier in the month, upped their division record to 6-2 and their overall mark to 18-8, and are now ranked 66th in the state.
In the SCVAL’s El Camino Division, the Saratoga Falcons stayed undefeated by knocking off Fremont and Wilcox.
The Falcons, who moved to 7-0 in league play, rebounded from a first set loss to topple Wilcox 24-26, 25-20 25-15, 25-20.
The Lynbrook Vikings stayed hot on the Falcons’ heels by dumping Milpitas in straight sets, but then sustained a pair of non-league losses to Fortuna and Head-Royce.
The Vikes, who are just a half-game in back of Saratoga at 7-1, made quick work of Milpitas, 25-14, 25-13, 25-16. Morgan Wu and Amy Steinmetz registered eight kills apiece and Sara Mandic chipped in with six to lead the Lynbrook attack. Other contributors to the win included Alice Cai (5 aces), Esther Ho (18 digs) and Jiayi Shen (27 assists).
In a 15-25, 25-22, 11-15 tournament loss to Fortuna, Wu again led the way with eight kills and Shen dealt out 16 assists.
Lynbrook dropped a 10-25, 11-25 decision to Head-Royce in its second tourney outing.
Prior to losing to Saratoga, Wilcox earned a 25-6, 25-19, 22-25, 25-20 victory over Cupertino despite the strong play of Leah Ramirez (12 kills, 11 digs), Michelle Pyke (10 kills, 6 aces), Sophie Ku (17 digs), Kristen Nagamatsu (31 assists, 13 digs) and Anamika Ghosh (10 digs) for the Pioneers.
The Pioneers rebounded to edge the Santa Clara Panthers 25-22, 25-23, 25-22, evening their overall record for the year at 14-14-1. Pyke’s 16 kills and Nagamatsu’s 30 assists were instrumental in the win.
